


Mind & Soul

by TheTrueVoid



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Experimentation, Fantasy, Friendship, OC, Original Character-centric, Science Fiction, Secret Organizations, reupload
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24867994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTrueVoid/pseuds/TheTrueVoid
Summary: Perl Aurelius, that’s her name. She's supposedly a genius but she doubts that at times with how foolish she can be.  She struggles a lot in life, whether it's her mysterious past, her secret identity, the secret society that lurks in the dark, science, becoming a huntress, dealing with her new team, or worst of all... social interactions. Yeah, she has a bad case of social anxiety, but what can you expect from a girl who's early life was spent in captivity? Sure she has a lot on her plate, but somehow, with her Mind & Soul, she'll make it through this mess.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1 - The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: While I originally posted this on FFN I'm doing this to bridge myself onto this site as well. I'm rather proud of what I have for this story. Unfortunately, as I said, I'm relatively new to this site so I'm in the process of figuring everything out, so If I do something wrong let me know… are these AN's even allowed here?
> 
> The pairings are undecided. This is an AU with several OCs. This story might take a while cause it’ll hurt my brain. Especially once quantum physics comes into play, well, if is the better word. I’m unsure if I want time travel.
> 
> I should also mention that Perl’s intelligence is not what it seems, in more ways than one. She is far from perfect and just because she knows a lot doesn’t make her the brightest. You’ll know what I mean in later chapters.
> 
> Please keep it in mind that I’m not an expert and I’m likely to get stuff wrong.
> 
> Another thing of note is that, along with the many things I’m adding in this AU, there will be many more types of dust than what was shown in canon. There will be many new natural types of dust, and even synthetic types! I’m really hyped with all the lore I’ve made. Of course, that's just what I'm saying about the AU, the rest will be learned along the way!
> 
> Along with this will be my own theories and ideas for science and technology, and much more, in Remnant. I do hope I’m not overdoing the science aspect but when I nerd out, I nerd out.
> 
> Also, anyone who’s smart, please point out my mistakes so I can fix them. 
> 
> But I hope that you all will enjoy this, so let me introduce Mind & Soul!

### Chapter 1 - The Beginning 

**Perl’s trailer**

“Life is an interesting thing.” A wise man’s voice spoke, images of society flashing in the darkness. “It all began a long time ago, with dust. Everybody knows the story, how th— we used it to push back the darkness. But many forget that there’s more to the story, and like every puzzle, this story has many pieces.”

“While dust gave birth to civilization,” The wise man continued. “Aura gave birth to life. It brought humanity into the Light so they could push back the Darkness. Aura, the so-called manifestation of The Soul.” A myriad of colors exploded into the void, something was being forged.

“Utilizing Aura and Dust, hand in hand, things began to change. Much like clockwork, Life began moving forward as the Gears of Fate began to turn.” 

The sound of a clock rang out as flashes of technology appeared. A new voice spoke shyly, one belonging to a young girl.

“But What is Aura? Is it actually the manifestation of The Soul? Or is it a naturally occurring physiological phenomenon?” She went on, almost asking herself the questions.

“No one truly knows, and yet they depend on it so much. It takes a lot of trust to use something you know nothing about…” She reasoned thoughtfully, images of warriors utilizing aura echoing through the emptiness.

“Aura, where did it come from? Was it something that evolved naturally? Was it a blessing from a higher power? Or maybe, just maybe… it’s something more.”

“The supposed manifestation of The Soul.” She began calmly, “Souls. The pure, untouched Energy of Life. We’re told that every living thing has one, except the Grimm. This raises the question, why do we go about our lives, never wondering about the Infinite Energy inside us?”

“Where does it come from? Why can it do the things it can do? Just what is a Soul?”

As the girl’s voice faded, a new voice spoke out. It was an older woman, much colder than the previous voices. The darkness somehow became even darker.

“Despite being frail and weak, Life thrived. With Knowledge, Choice, Destruction, and Creation in hand, they used Dust and Souls to move forward.” She explained, her tone cruel and harsh.

“Fighting against the Darkness as Science and Technology thrived in the light. Unaware of the secrets hidden in the world, and within themselves.”

“Because unbeknownst to all, they were marching forward to no end. Because like all things, nothing can escape the undeniable laws of the world. Humanity is no exception.”

“But despite their inescapable Fate, they continued fighting strongly. Sharpening their minds and their blades, dead set on Evolution.”

“But not everything is what it seems, because much like the Light, the Darkness grows as well…”

As her voice faded, light sprung forth once again as the young girl’s voice returned, images of Gears coming with it.

“While all things move in many different directions, they all help the world spin together. Each and everything helps out, allowing us to move forward with every turn. That’s how a gear works.”

“Every cog and gear, every piece on the board, has a place in the endless clockwork journey of time. All because the Gears of Fate are always moving. We just have to make sure they turn towards the goal we want.”

* * *

_A picture of a small blonde girl with pearly blue eyes appeared on the computer screen. Pictures of her parents were next to her, both of them dead._

_“A young child named Stella Rampion was reported to be missing last week at 5:41 O’clock. Her parents were found…”_

* * *

A young girl, no more than five or six, woke up in a dusty old bed. She was alone. Trapped in a dusty old room. Her freedom had been stolen, her fate turned dark. 

The agonizing pain echoed throughout her mind and body, there was something missing. Something was off, but what? 

Something had been… stolen, yes… something had been stolen from her. What was stolen? Or was it who… she couldn’t even tell what was stolen. She knew it was important, extremely so… but what… what was… why was it stolen? Who stole it? 

What was stolen?

She raised a pale hand to her head, rubbing it to soothe the aching as she sat up and looked around. Why did her head hurt so much? How did she get here?

Wait…who was she?

The little girl’s mismatched eyes widened in horror as she realized something. She couldn’t remember anything… She had to remember! She had to! How could she just forget who she was!? She had to remember this! She knew this. Her name was… no… she. She had to know this… her name. Her name was…

No…

How could she forget something like that?

How could she forget her own name?

Was that what was stolen? Her identity? Or her memories… What happened to her? Why her!?

She looked around in a panic, her long platinum blonde hair flowing behind her like golden threads in the wind as she stumbled up to a door in the corner of the room, groaning in pain as she went.

Locked. A large solid steel door confined her in the room, the only opening to the outside world was a single slot in the door. There wasn’t even a window she could escape through… she was a bird in a cage, her wings clipped. 

She was trapped. Her freedom was stolen. Her life was stolen. Her memories were stolen. Everything was stolen from her. 

She had nothing left. She was alone and in pain.

She sighed softly, tears beginning to stream down her face as she scanned her surroundings. This bleak room, this depressing cell, this was her life now. 

It was a simple place, a few tables with various tools and parts, for some reason she found that soothing. She had many things that would grant her a comfortable life. She even had a computer on a desk in the corner, though she highly doubted it had an outside connection. Seriously, you would have to be a really bad kidnapper to allow your prisoner RemNet access.

It wasn’t a nice place, but it certainly wasn’t low quality. The place had been designed for holding someone, that much was clear. It was designed to hold _her._

The screen glowed brightly in the dimly lit room, creating a strange presence as the light washed over her. As she stumbled towards it a few words appeared on the screen.

It actually worried her, they only appeared when she approached the device. She was being watched. That was… unnerving. 

_"WV: I see you are awake…"_

The child frowned, sniffling as she wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her large sky blue hoodie. Hesitantly, she typed up a reply, trying to communicate with whoever imprisoned her.

_"U1: Who are you? Who am I? Why am I here? What’s going on!?"_

She quickly sent the message, anxiously waiting for her response. The wait was painful, simply waiting in an ominous silence. It was ghost-quiet besides the slow ticking of a clock.

She didn’t even realize she was holding her breath until she received a reply, causing her to let out a sigh of relief.

_"WV: Calm down young one, I’m sure you have many questions. Your name is Perl Aurelius, you may call me Voltz. Try to calm yourself, for we have much to do."_

The girl, now named Perl, nodded to herself, sniffling as she breathed in and out. Maybe if she went along with the person across the screen she could figure out what was going on… 

Maybe she could get out of this place… 

Nervously, she replied. 

_"U1: Okay Voltz, where do I start?"_

* * *

Perl hated her life. Sure she was granted access to just about anything a girl could want. Metal, high quality dust, tools and supplies galore. She even had a Dust Binding station! It was ridiculous.

She wasn’t sure where Voltz got the insane amount of things she worked with but she did appreciate it. Seriously, the amount of supplies she had been given must have cost a fortune.

Despite that, she hated it here. It was an eternal prison, one made just for her.

She had no friends or family, no one to talk to besides Voltz, she didn’t even have CCT or RemNet access! She could only access what Volts allowed her to. 

He was far more intelligent than she was, which was understandable because she was around ten, but she was getting smarter. Then again, she was already impressively smart for her age. She assumed that was why she was here. Maybe in his sick and twisted mind she was his protégée.

So here she was, tinkering at her workstation trying to build a stronger processor, as well as many other parts, for… a personal project. She resigned to making her own parts because none of the premade parts Voltz provided for her could handle her project. 

The absurd thought of what she was doing actually made her snort, giggling slightly. She was only a kid, yet she was building a complex computer, something the majority of the population couldn’t even do. It was kinda strange, amusing even.

She was working on what was essentially a small yet powerful Processing Core. Which would be difficult but it was possible. People have made CPUs the size of a grain of sand before, and they’ve made powerful ones, so why couldn’t she do both? Well, making it smaller wasn’t the problem. The issue was increasing the complexity while decreasing the size. That was one of the reason’s she wasn’t making them that small, or at least, all of them that small. To put it simply, she wanted to make what was likely the most advanced computer on Remnant. 

Micro Dust Systems, or MDS’, were nothing compared to what she was doing. Scrolls would be like cavemen scratching on walls with rocks compared to what she was making. She was literally walking into unknown territory. A ten year old girl was attempting to reach the pinnacle of technology. Seriously, she was trying to reach the Bleeding Edge all by herself, okay well she had _some_ help but Voltz didn’t count!

Why was she doing all of this? To make a super computer and an AI friend of course.

“Dammit…” She whispered softly, chuckling at herself. “I’m _so_ lonely that I'm trying to build one of the most advanced AIs on Remnant. What has my life come to…” 

It was a difficult process to be sure. As she needed to make a computer far more advanced than most, while getting as close to the quantum level as she could without having the electrons go through the process of quantum phasing. She wasn’t ready to handle quantum computers, it was out of her level, for now. There was no way she would be using photons for her computer just yet, she could work on that later.

“This is _such a pain…_ ” Perl groaned, banging her head against the desk with a sigh. It was still too slow. 

To put things into perspective, an average CPU’s clock ticks several billion times per second, which was far too slow. She needed to get way faster, at least into the trillions, if not quicker, for her computer to be even remotely fast enough

She would also need to increase the number of pins to increase information intake but speed and complexity was her main priority. Of course, this was all for a secondary Core, she planned to make more. She wanted to make an advanced multicore system for her computer to run on.

She had already finished the Primary Core, which was far larger so it could keep up. She would have many Secondary Cores to assist the Primary Core.

Of course she was vastly oversimplifying things, she had so much work to do. She hadn’t even started planning out what she was going to do for RAM.

“So what if I need to work on it, I can do that later. Focus Perl! Focus on the Core, not the RAM!” She whispered to herself, trying to self motivate. 

Perl paused, a thought occurred to her. “RAM? More like RAMen… heh heh… I made a joke.” She muttered to herself, glancing at the discarded ramen cups nearby, chuckling at the word play as she got back to work.

The cooling system would be another issue. With how powerful she was making this, it would require a lot of energy and a lot of cooling.

She had a plan involving a complex Dust circuit utilizing a flow system with Gravity Dust, Thermal Dust, Energy Dust, and Inert Dust. Well, there was actually more to it than that but that would take _ages_ to explain. The Energy Dust and the Thermal Dust were self explanatory but the Gravity and Inert Dusts were used more like conduits.

Essentially it would use the heat the computer produces as a secondary power source if needed, if not, then it would be a simple cooling unit. Unfortunately this was easier said than done. Thermodynamics was a pain in her— yeah, she much preferred computers and machines over physics.

Don’t get her wrong. She liked all forms of science and math, but trying to fit everything under certain laws can be annoying. Especially when they don’t even know all the laws they have to follow. Maybe she should figure them out…

“Remind me to work on a theory of everything… in a couple years of course.” Perl muttered, making a mental reminder despite the absurdity of the idea. She continued to lay out the golden wires on the circuit. It was an annoying process. It felt like swimming through quicksand, that was to say, slow and painful.

“If only I had Aurum, that would make things easier…” She doubted Voltz would actually give her any because of all the things you could use it for but she would probably ask anyway. It was an expensive and valuable alloy.

“Why does technology have to be so fun but so annoying at the same time!?” Perl continued whispering to herself softly, frustrated at the tedious work she was doing.

And why was she talking to herself? She needed to get back to work. Dust, she was so stupid sometimes.

* * *

It took her way over a year and a half to get it done, and that was when she was working everyday for hours on end. And her result? She discovered that SuperComputers were awesome! Unfortunately it still needed a lot of work but at least it actually functioned!

The computer was nice and all but it was still a computer, just a really powerful one. She still needed to finish making the Artificial Intelligence though.

She still needed to spend a lot of time programming which was understandable when you considered the amount of algorithms and logistic programs needed. The evolutionary system was a pain as well, not to mention the sheer effort she put into designing its neural programming.

Neuroevolution was a major pain in her butt. It was difficult, she was making an advanced all purpose learning AI. It had a system unlike most, DEEP learning? Nowhere close, Kernel Methods? Ridiculous, she needed to make her own system. It made the DGX A100 look slow, which took ages to do.

The AI she was designing would be incredibly complex but she wasn’t going to make it sentient, she wasn’t messing with that. She had seen enough sci-fi from what Voltz has shown her to know that a powerful sentient AI with access to a supercomputer was a bad idea.

Okay maybe her worries were completely based on sci-fi movies but that wasn’t important.

What was important was the fact that she had outsmarted the majority of scientists on Remnant despite being an eleven, almost twelve, year old girl. Yeah, that definitely wasn’t going to go to her head.

She hadn’t given her device a name yet, but she had named the AI that ran on it. 

Her name was Eve, and oh boy she was awesome. She still needed a lot of work done. Once she finished developing her “brain,” she would still need to learn things. She had the ability to change and grow to fit her parameters and use her functions as best as she could. 

Though, while impressive, she was still an AI. She had to obey orders and she could only do so much. For instance, emotions weren’t programmed into her so she couldn’t feel them. Though if she ordered her to do so her neural network would expand and evolve herself till she could do the desired function. Though something as complex as true emotions would take ages, something like simulating them would be far easier.

That was what made Eve so special. She was going to be an evolving virtual entity, hence the name Eve.

Like most AI’s she would have a primary directive, to protect and help her creator, and she could not go against it. Not even her neural network could get around it. 

Of course an AI of this quality was ridiculous and took some serious computing power. For this reason she was glad she put the effort into making the CPUs handle the extra cycles.

Now back to her computer. It could handle Eve and run tasks at a ridiculous speed but she still needed a name for it…

She had considered several names like Origin or Eden but she was still unsure. Maybe she could use another language? 

Perl nodded, liking the idea. Her smile widened briefly as a name entered her mind, based on the Old Auran word for “Forbidden Knowledge.”

As she booted up the large blue laptop, she let the name escape her lips. “Apocrypha…” 

* * *

Around eight years. That’s how long Perl had been stuck in this damned room. This damned prison cell. Her own personal torture. Humans were Social Creatures! They weren’t designed for captivity! It baffled her how she hadn’t gone insane!

For around eight years, she was trapped in a barren room, never even seeing her captor. This made her thirteen years old, almost fourteen, if Voltz was to be trusted when it came to her age.

Food would only come in through a slot in the door, and her education came from Voltz. Whenever she requested books or supplies, they would appear whenever she woke up the next morning. Upon realizing this, she tried to fake being asleep to catch a glimpse of Voltz. It hadn’t worked.

She wasn’t even allowed to have anything remotely sharp, lest she try to cut herself. This removed the ability to cut her hair, causing her pearly blonde locks to become absurdly long, so that even when it was braided it still reached past her knees, it was kinda annoying at times, but at least it looked nice.

The lack of most sharp tools also made crafting things a pain. If she wanted something cut, she would have to specify the exact length. Then, like usual, whenever she went to bed, it would be cut. That’s why she usually specified the length before she got the material, so she didn’t have to wait a whole day to continue her work.

She was given nutritious food so she had grown quite nicely, now a reasonable height of one hundred sixty five centimeters.

She had been taught a lot and had become extremely intelligent during her imprisonment. Voltz teaching her was a mistake, now she was smart, and she was going to use it to her advantage.

Today was the day she would escape.

Her heterochromatic eyes were hardened with determination as she stared at Apocrypha’s screen.

Oh yeah, she forgot to mention that. She was heterochromatic, her left eye was a brilliant shining gold while her right eye was a pearly blue color. She thought it looked pretty neat. It did feel off though, but that was probably just in her head.

She was furiously typing away at the supercomputer, using the brief times that she knew Voltz was away from his computer to start her escape. It took her awhile but she eventually pieced together his schedule, the only consistent gap was every morning at six sharp. 

Obviously she had multiple captors or Voltz didn’t need to sleep, it was the only logical explanation for how she was constantly being monitored. At said time she had approximately twenty minutes before he returned. So she had to work quickly.

Right now she was interfering with the video footage of the cameras in her room. Yeah… she was kinda awesome.

She had Eve create a video loop of her collapsed on the floor, making it look like something had happened to her. If it worked at all, it wouldn’t fool Voltz for long, he was smart after all. She would do it herself but she was a bit busy making something else and she didn’t exactly have a lot of time.

It was a bit awkward recording it but… it was necessary. It would allow her to escape after all.

Once Voltz came to check on her she would activate the dust traps she had made, trapping him so she could free herself. 

The trap was a hybrid type dust device that she had made by hoarding excess dust in secret. It was difficult to gather enough of it as Voltz regulated it heavily.

The device would use gravity and force dust to pull him into a prison made of hard light dust and ice dust. All of this would be powered by an Energy dust crystal, not to be confused with a lightning dust shard. It was a common misconception, they were similar but Energy produced more than just electricity and was far more controlled, if weaker, than the raw strength of lightning dust.

Once he was trapped, she would exit through the door of her room. She had a contingency plan if he shut the door behind him, which was to simply detonate another bomb and blow up the door, allowing her to escape.

All of this would be done from within the safety of her bathroom… yeah it was kinda weird when she put it like that.

Even though her plan wasn’t the best, she wasn’t given access to a lot of materials that would help her sneak out. This was the best she could do with the resources at hand.

Scratch that, this was the best, _safe,_ way she could do with the supplies at hand. So it was pretty much her only valid idea. She could do the math to figure out whether the plan was safe in the first place, but did she really care? Maybe, but not enough to stop now.

Though there was one major flaw in her plan, it all relied on Voltz _actually_ checking on her. This was the Unknown variable.

Though she was fairly sure he would, it seemed like he cared about her to some extent.

With a sigh of relief, she stared at the keyboard. She was done, it was ready. Now or never… 

With a sharp inhale, and a click of a button, it began. Grabbing what few belongings that actually mattered to her, Perl hid herself in the bathroom, it was time to begin.

* * *

It was all so sudden. For some reason she hadn’t expected it to work, yet it did.

Perl ran out of the bathroom as a large boom echoed from her room. A sharp suction of air could be heard as she ran through the doorway, quickly exiting the hall. The entire building shook loudly from the force of the bomb, almost causing her to trip.

Her pseudo implosion grenade had worked. She said “pseudo” as it wasn’t an actual implosion in the sense that it wasn’t a real implosion. It was just gravity, forces, and wind.

In layman’s terms, an explosion is when Energy is compressed into a small area and quickly released into an outward force or wave. Y’know that hiss of air when you open a soda? Yeah, technically speaking, that’s an explosion.

She simply reversed this process and created a small vacuum chamber, made with Gravity and Force dust, as well as a little bit of Wind shards. This would create an area of low pressure in the chamber while drastically increasing the outside force, making a false implosion. Did she mention she used A LOT of Gravity Dust?

After Voltz was pulled in by said implosion, the device would use outlying Ice and Hard Light crystals to form a shell around it. This would create a temporary prison for her teacher. 

While a very crude and simple device, it was all she could make with the resources at hand.

Perl didn’t even try to sneak a peek into the frosty shell that held her captive, as she ran by. She was too busy, she wasn’t going to risk losing her chance at escaping.

She just ran, panting heavily despite the small distance traveled, she really wasn’t built for exercise. She turned down the corridor, bolting down the stairwell and more. She didn’t have long until Voltz broke free, so rather than searching for the exit, she jumped out through the fire escape.

The odd eyed girl winced in pain as she fell face first into an alleyway, seemingly in the slums of a city. Based on the area around her, she assumed Vale. She groaned as she looked back, peering upwards. Her absolute shock was visible, her eyes wide with confusion. _“What the…”_

She just fell twelve stories! How in Remnant was she okay? She didn’t even have her aura unlocked! Sure she had scrapes and bruises but her bones should’ve been broken! She should be in a hospital, maybe even in a morgue!

Perl sighed, pulling at her long hair in frustration. As much as she wanted to debate the physics of how absurd everything was, she didn’t have the time. She had to run.

Despite her pain, she quickly sat up and continued her escape. Puddles splashing as she ran through them, panting all the way as she traversed the slums of the city. Based on the layout and the building structure it was safe to say she was in Vale, though that was pretty much guess work so she could be wrong.

Perl didn’t stop, despite feeling like she was about to pass out. She continued running, not wanting to be recaptured. She couldn’t stop, not if she wanted freedom. 

By the time she finally paused to rest, she realized she was in the middle of a crowd, in what appeared to be some sort of commercial district.

People stared at her with curiosity and concern as they walked around her. The sudden attention made a strange shrinking feeling well up inside her. It was as if her own chest was constricting upon her. She felt like she was suffocating.

They looked down at her like giants, staring down at her with what felt like mocking eyes. Her chest tightened as her heart pounded, she was hyperventilating as she stood up and ran. She began to feel light headed and dizzy, nauseous even. She needed to get away from them.

She felt so small and pathetic, so terrified by a simple crowd. She hadn’t seen a single person for her entire life, until today when she was suddenly thrusted into a swarm of them…

It made her feel so weak and trapped. It was a deafening feeling, she drowned in the hoard of people as she started running again, although doing so felt like moving through molasses. She needed to escape.

She had run more today than she had in her entire life, as far as she knew at least. She was scared and tired, she had to rest, but it wasn’t safe.

She needed to escape, she needed a low profile place to survive. She couldn’t just go to the police and claim she had been kidnapped, she wasn even able to talk to people! Besides, who knows what kind of connections Voltz might have?

Maybe she was being paranoid, but she couldn’t take that kind of risk. There were too many unknown variables.

She sniffled as tears began to stream down her face, she needed to live. No matter what, she would endure…

So that’s what she would do, till the Gears of Fate stopped turning.

* * *

Perl sighed as she sat down at her desk, clacking away at Apocrypha. It took her awhile but she managed to procure some funds and rent herself an apartment under a false name. She pretended that she lived here with her parents who were Hunters, and therefore away on missions most of the time.

Her life wasn’t lavish, if anything it was poor. She lived off of, kinda, healthy snacks and cup ramen. Her apartment was small and trashy, her only belongings being her computer and some tools.

She spent most of her time online, prowling on research forums. Her only actual interaction being when she sold a device she had made.

Well, until recently that is. At the moment she was chatting with a scientist from Atlas, helping him with his ideas. He was extremely grateful for her help even though she didn’t do much. All she did was recommend using a blend of Force and Inert Dust, and an Aurum based alloy rather than steel or mythril, to make the linings of the Aura Circuits because of a theory she had… 

Well she also shared a metric ton of research and help him with some theories but that didn’t count. That wasn’t… okay so maybe she helped a little.

_"RP: As I’ve said, it’s fine. You can work on your experiment by yourself, I don’t do it for the glory. Though if your future tests are successful I would like to know, it would be incredible if it did."_

_"ASP: Well I can’t take all the credit, you’ve helped me a lot. I would have never been able to solve this without your help. Though I’d be glad to help keep you informed of the results, I would still like to show my gratitude. It wouldn’t feel right to publish this paper without you. If I might ask, may I have your name?"_

Perl paused, contemplating her response nervously. As usual, she was overthinking everything. She wanted to tell him her name, she had known ‘ASP’ for a couple of weeks now and she wanted to trust him. She knew he was a real scientist, she did her research. The question was whether he was a trustworthy scientist. She wanted to yet she still couldn’t, she was still paranoid. 

She sighed in annoyance, running her fingers through her hair. Why did her life have to be so complicated? Why couldn’t things just be easy?

Perl paused once again, an idea sparking in her mind as she quickly typed up her response.

_"RP: My name is Charlotte."_

————

Almost two years. It was almost two years ago that she escaped her prison. She was fifteen now, if what Voltz told her was true.

She said she would keep a low profile but…

.

..

…

Yeah, that didn’t work out…

She might have accidentally, sort of, maybe become kinda secretly famous? Okay yeah she was famous, but no one knew it was her. She was careful enough to use a fake identity at least. She did have to make a fake birth certificate and credentials and all that but it was an easy process. Nothing extreme, just enough to make her look legitimate.

It was a long story, after she had calmed herself down she managed to use her skills and intelligence to secure herself a place to live and some funds. Science had a lot of opportunities, ones that her intellect supported.

She then lived her life cooped up in her apartment, and while talking on message boards and experimenting a bunch people took notice of her.

Using the alias “Charlotte Marigold” she became rather famous as a mysterious scientist and craftsman. No one knew anything about her but a lot of people knew of her.

Perl received many job offers and work requests, most of which she declined. 

The sudden attention terrified her, the idea that so many people knew about her work. That so many people talked about her. She felt like she was under constant watch.

Fan mail, being mentioned on various sights, she was even on the news at one point! It… it worried her. The fame was suffocating, it drowned her at times. Knowing that whatever she did under the name “Charlotte Marigold” would be expected to be perfect.

She knew that her fears were silly, that it was utter nonsense but the idea of being so well known sent her into a panic.

Though that didn’t mean the name came without benefit, besides the money of course. Namely, friends.

Well she couldn’t exactly call them friends because she had never met them but they were really nice and they talked to each other a lot and they were really cool— and now she was ranting again.

Pen pals would be a better term as she conversed with them through emails and chat groups. They were her only form of social interaction…

She was pretty sure that that said some things about herself… 

Perl sighed softly, breathing in and out as she moved her massive braid to the side. Dusting crumbs off of her large blue hoodie as she pushed up her thin silvery blue rimmed glasses with a shaky breath. Calming herself down, she threw away the empty cup of ramen and opened up her “public” email account.

Frowning softly, Perl yawned as her mismatched eyes looked through her massive list of emails with boredom. Most of them were the same old stuff, job offers or people requesting to have stuff made for them.

There was the occasional fan mail that made her blush and curl up into a ball until she calmed herself down whilst trying not to freak out. 

As most of her emails were just the usual, there was really only one message that caught her attention.

An email from the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, Ozpin. She probably should’ve checked her email more often, especially if she was getting messages from people this high up. It was two days old, so hopefully it wasn’t important.

Although reluctant, Perl took a deep breath and opened the digital letter. She immediately regretted it, her chest tightened as she read the message.

_“Dear Charlotte Marigold, or should I call you Perl? I am Professor Ozpin. You probably know who I am but to clarify, I am the headmaster of Beacon Academy. I’m mailing you because I would like to speak to you, in person of course. Unfortunately you are a very difficult person to talk to and even I had trouble getting my hands on this email, and it’s considered ‘public’. Now I know you probably have your reasons for staying hidden but this is a rather serious matter. Especially with some of your recent developments. Not to mention the fact that someone your age shouldn’t be living alone. Because of this, I would like to discuss things with you. Sincerely, Professor Ozpin.”_

Perl began to panic, worries racing through her head. How did he know her name? Why did he want to speak with her so badly? Was he in league with Voltz!? How did he know her na— wait she asked that one already…

She struggled to calm herself as she looked around nervously, her messy apartment its usual jungle of wires and machine parts. 

She had to respond, obviously. He knew who she was, so he had answers. Answers that she needed.

Why did life have to be frustrating? Why couldn’t she have just gotten fan mail like usual!? She loved responding to fan mail! Despite the stress associated with them of course.

Perl ran her fingers through her hair with a sigh, biting her lip as she typed up a short and simple reply. One that she rewrote many times, trying to make sure the message was perfect before she sent it.

_“Dear Headmaster Ozpin, as much as I would like to decline your offer I don’t really have a say in the matter. I really hope I can trust you, I apologize for being paranoid but as you said, I have my reasons. So, now that that’s over, you said you wanted to meet?”_

Perl sent the email with a sigh, collapsing onto her desk in exhaustion. She might as well get back to work… 

* * *

_“Dear Perl Aurelius, I’m pleased that you responded, even more so that you agreed to meet. I apologize for being so forward and I wish I could give you all the answers but it is of the utmost importance that we speak in person. I will be sending over an associate to meet you in three days. Sincerely, Ozpin.”_

* * *

He said that someone would be here three days from now, which was today. She had been dreading it, but it was finally here.

What was going on? Were they going to hurt her? Were they going to use her for her intelligence like Voltz did!? What did Ozpin want with her?!

She groaned to herself worriedly, her hands carefully reaching down to a gun holstered on her hip. She had only ever fired her guns at the shooting range but she would be fine, right?

She felt so antsy as she stared at the door fearfully, panic welling up inside her. She simply sat in her chair anxiously for what felt like days, dreading the moment they arrived. How much time had actually passed since the email? Approximately seventy six hours and thirty seven minutes.

What? Of course she kept track of time! She wasn’t stupid.

Perl practically flinched when someone knocked at her door, a rough gravelly man’s muffled voice called from outside. “Perl or Charlotte, or whoever I’m supposed to be getting. My boss wants to talk…” 

The man sounded disoriented, tired, and bored. Based on that, and the strong scent coming from the door it seemed likely that the man was drunk. Along with the fact that he was sent by Ozpin meant that he was a huntsman… 

Could she defend herself if the situation arised? He was drunk after all… no, it was painfully obvious. She stood no chance.

Even if he was drunk, she couldn’t fight him even if she tried, she had no choice. Breathing heavily, she carefully approached the door. Her palms grew cold and sweaty as she shakily undid the digital locks that held her door shut. 

Her heart pounded in her chest fearfully as she pulled the door open, looking up at the man before her.

The huntsman sighed, running his fingers through his messy black hair. His crimson eyes stared at her in slight confusion. “Shit… Must've written down the wrong apartment number…” His eyes then widened as he realized there was a kid in front of him, a seemingly terrified girl. 

“Oh uh don’t pay me any mind. Hey kid, The name’s Qrow, I’m lookin’ for a woman named Cha— I mean, Perl Aurelius, she lives ‘round here, ya seen her?” He said as he kneeled down to meet her gaze, trying not to frighten her further.

“I- I’m P-p— I’m Perl!” She stammered out nervously stepping away from the drunken huntsman. Her mismatched eyes narrowed slightly, staring at him warily as he looked at her incredulously.

“Huh?” He mumbled in confusion, clasping his flask to his belt as he raised an eyebrow in doubt. “You’re tellin’ me, That you’re Perl…”

She nodded vigorously, a gut wrenching feeling bubbling up as her shaky hands slowly reached for one of the guns on her hip. 

Qrow easily noticed her hand’s movements, frowning with a raised eyebrow. “There’s no need for that kid, I ain’t gonna hurt ya.” He explained, trying to calm her down. “When Oz said you were young I thought he meant early twenties, not some kid…” He muttered to himself.

Meanwhile Perl frowned, stuttering slightly as she spoke, “I-I’m not a child!” She exclaimed quietly, her face bright red with anger and embarrassment.

“Ok, Ok!” Qrow said with exasperation in his voice, he let out a sigh of annoyance. “Calm down, my boss just wants to talk with ya…” 

Perl looked at him closely, her odd eyes scanning him for any signs of deceit. Nervously, she gently double-tapped the edge of her glasses, causing them to come to life.

Information flooded her eyes, utilizing the micro Scrolls that were built into the lenses. They didn’t even have any abilities, they were mainly just screens to share information on. Well, that was a lie, they had a H.U.D and speakers in it for various purposes.

_“Qrow Branwen - S Ranked Huntsman: 93% Completion Rate. A few minor crimes on his record, mainly drunk and disorderlies, nothing major. Though he does have a past with bandits. He doesn’t seem to be hostile but if he does attack he would be quite the threat. More details have been saved on Apocrypha.”_ Eve’s familiar and calming voice told her, giving her the information required.

He seemed relatively safe, ignoring the bandit background, but that was in the past and he did work with Ozpin. She could trust him, right? Huntsmen were supposed to be the good guys! It wasn’t like she could fight him anyways.

Cautiously, she nodded, “O-Ok, I w-will go with you… but only to talk!” Perl said quickly, she tapped her glasses again, causing the light to fade. She then fixed up her hair and straightened herself out, with a deep breath, she asked. “Now what?”

The drunken huntsman chuckled at her nervousness, gesturing for her to follow as he responded. “As I said, time for you to meet Ol’ Oz.”

* * *

Perl, was in a word, awestruck. Her odd eyes were wide in amazement as she stepped into Ozpin’s Office. 

She was already shocked by the professor. She had expected a boring old room with a desk and chairs but this… it was ineffable.

A reverie of wonder, that was what was going on inside her mind. An innocent smile spread across her face as she took in the majesty that was the room.

Brass and silver rings lined the glass floor, which showed off a massive puzzle of interlocking cogs and gears. A massive pendulum swung above, in tune with the clock window behind the ornate wooden desk that laid still in the center of the room. Through the glass windows massive glowing green lights could be seen swirling around the building, seemingly in sync with the gears above them.

It was like a massive never ending puzzle, all interconnected. A masterpiece of clockwork art. 

The off grey walls had a wistful feeling to them, all inscribed with mysterious symbols. It was strange that she couldn’t recognize them, but that just made it all the more mystical.

Even all of her words couldn’t bring justice to the office. Though it spoke to her in a way, she understood it.

It was the same reason she always added some flair to her creations. She could just make them as efficient as possible and be done but no, she always went out of her way to make her work special.

She felt that same sensation when she made something… 

“Wow…” Perl muttered under her breath, a sharp breath.

Qrow simply smirked, “I told Oz that it was a bit overk—” “No it’s beautiful, selcouth even…” She interrupted, smiling brightly. 

“It makes me feel… joyful. It makes me feel small, yet grand at the same time. It has this aura, this… melodic concinnity about it. It’s beautiful.” She elaborated.

The drunken huntsman raised an eyebrow, surprised at the girl’s sudden calmness. “I have no clue what you just said,” He admitted tiredly.

“That’s quite the vocabulary you have there,” A wise man spoke out, with a much smoother tone than Qrow’s.

Perl froze in fear, jolted out of her wonder, just noticing the man seated at the desk in the center of the room. 

It was a much older figure, one with tousled silver hair and pale skin. His thin brown eyes, hidden behind a pair of dark spectacles, gazed at her curiously, a small smile on his face.

The golden buttons of his dusty black suit glinted softly, his dark green vest matched his pants of the same color. He adjusted the purple cowl around his neck as he sat up, rounding his desk to approach her.

Not only was she nervous about meeting the Headmaster, she had been caught demonstrating one of her… weirder habits. Whenever Perl was passionate, she tended to be overly verbose. That was to say, she used lots of big words.

He held out a hand and stared at her with a knowing look. “Hello Miss Aurelius, I’m Professor Ozpin, nice to meet you.”

Perl shook his hand, albeit very nervously. Struggling not to panic, she introduced herself. “H-Hi, I- um I’m P-Perl. Well you kn-know who I am, but it’s uh n-nice to meet you too?” 

Ozpin chuckled softly, he nodded to Qrow softly, prompting him to leave. “See ya kid,” He said as he left the room, not even giving her a chance to speak.

The Headmaster turned back to the blonde girl with a smile. “So Perl, I’m sure you have many questions, most of which will be answered in due time.” 

“Y-Yeah, mainly why I’m h-here?” She said in an almost fearful tone.

The Headmaster walked towards the window overseeing the academy, students walking everywhere. “Well for one, you aren’t of legal age and therefore belong in the system. Two, your intelligence is quite impressive for your age and it caught my attention.”

Perl froze. Anything but that. She definitely didn’t want to be put into the system. She would find herself back in Voltz clutches. She knew it! It would happen! It definitely wasn’t her paranoia speaking!!

Perl took several deep breaths, calming herself down as she asked. “Ar-Are y-you sure w-we cannot c-come to an a-agreement?” 

Ozpin raised an eyebrow, frowning at her nervousness. “We aren’t planning to put you into foster care, you can calm yourself Perl.”

“Y-you aren’t?!”

“Of course not.” He replied simply, “I wish to enroll you in what is known as the Ward Program. You would be raised here until you were at least eighteen. You would be educated for the last bit of this year and enrolled next year if you wished. Though with your age you would be a bit behind the other students.”

“Wha-? Why?” Perl muttered in confusion, unsure why Ozpin would make such an offer.

“It’s simple. You are smart and there are certain people who would go after you because of that fact. I would like to help you.” 

Perl stepped back, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. Her palms grew sweaty and her chest tightened as she went on. “H-How do I kn-know you’re n-not the same?”

“Simple.” Ozpin stayed, turning back to face her. “Because I am simply offering you shelter. I only ask that you do not use your intelligence against mankind.”

Frowning softly, she shook her head. “C-could y-you elab-elaborate?”

Ozpin sighed, twirling his cane. “You could be a very dangerous criminal with your mind. I want to avoid that, so let us help you.”

Perl was still suspicious, but she had to admit, his logic was sound, in some strange eccentric way. He wasn’t exhibiting any signs of lying either…

It was either this or foster care. She didn’t really have a say in the matter. In a way it was an ultimatum.

“Su- I uh- I mean, I a-ac-accept sir!” Perl nodded firmly, tensing up slightly. 

Ozpin nodded, smiling strangely as he sat down at his desk. “Perfect, I shall get to work on the forms, but if I might ask… 

The headmaster’s pleased gaze shifted to a frown as he glanced towards her, finally voicing his curiosities, “You’ve been extremely nervous, scared almost, this entire time, is something wrong?” 

Perl let out a nervous laugh, “W-Well it might h-have something to do w-with my crippling social anxiety? Or m-maybe the f-fact that I was k-kidnapped and lived with no h-Human interaction for m-most of my life?” She said quickly, trying to avoid the topic of discussion.

She probably shouldn’t have mentioned it but she just blurted everything out because she was a nervous wreck who couldn’t control herself.

Yeah she had a problem… 

Ozpin’s gaze hardened further, his frown deepening. “What do you mean you were kidnapped?” He asked sternly. 

“W-Well kidnapped m-might be a strong word. F-for as long as I c-can remember I was i-imprisoned, until I escaped a-approximately twenty months and thirteen days?” She explained, almost questioning herself due to her awkwardness.

Ozpin sighed in mild exasperation. “We have a lot of talking to do…”

Perl sighed in frustration, practically slapping herself in the face because of her stupidity. Damn her dumb mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: That my friends, was The Science of The Soul, Soul Science, Mind & Soul, Whatever I’m calling it, I don’t know. I have big plans for this fic. I’m not just going to alter canon either, it’ll be different. I want to make my stories a little bit more special, if you know what I mean.
> 
> I hope I didn’t nerd out too much, I just used what I knew, used my own lore, and did a little bit of research and boom. I managed to make myself sound decently intelligent instead of an idiot. Or I hope I did. As they say, “It’s easy to write someone dumber than you, but extremely difficult to write someone smarter.”
> 
> Remember, please correct my mistakes, I want this to be accurate.
> 
> Now, Perl’s semblance is undecided and I’m still unsure of what it will be. If you have any suggestions I’ll gladly take them, my current Ideas are:
> 
> Technopathy  
> Telekinesis  
> Pocket Dimension 
> 
> Only reason pocket dimension is an option is because I like the idea of her always having her work on her. It could also be a safe space for her to retreat to. I’m slightly against Telekinesis because Perl could easily become overpowered with that, but I’m not going to explain how. Technopathy is self explanatory and opens up a path that intrigues me in the story.
> 
> The pairing is also undecided but I’ll introduce more characters before I make a poll.
> 
> It should be immensely obvious who Perl’s based off of. If it’s not, her alias is a hint. Well, there are more hints but I can’t say those.
> 
> There will be one more chapter before the actual story starts because I want to explore Perl as a character a little more.
> 
> That’s all for now, Void Out!


	2. Chapter 2 - The Story Moves Forward

_ “Heart palpitations.”  _ Perl thought to herself nervously, shrinking down as she hid underneath her sky blue hood. She felt like everyone was staring at her. Was she doing something wrong? Was it her hair? Or was there something on her face?

_ “Heart palpitations are a common symptom of many things. Given my age and medical history, and the fact that I am not under the influence of any substance it’s likely a mental issue. I’m nervous and under a great deal of stress, that’s probably it. I definitely don’t have any heart condition that will kill me. Probably. Hopefully.”  _ Perl began walking faster, trying to get back to her room as fast as possible. She was terrified, her heart was pounding, her breath was short, and she was struggling to cope.

She had only been at Beacon for two days and she was already miserable. She knew that people were talking about her. Everyone was theorizing why she was put into the Ward Program. 

The program was difficult to get into so it was understandable that they were curious, but the constant glances and whispers were stressful. She didn’t need, nor did she want to hear made up tales about how she arrived here.

_ “People are whispering,”  _ Perl began walking at a quicker pace, desperate to get out of the halls. She didn’t like it here. Maybe she should count, that always calmed her down.

“—oof!” Perl fell to the ground, landing on her back.  _ “Crap!” _

She groaned as she sat up, still in a daze. She had run into someone. Of course she did, just perfect! What would people say about her now… 

“A-Are you alright?” A worried voice asked with a strange accent. It sounded like she was… actually she wasn’t sure. It wasn’t any of the primary kingdoms, nor was it an outlying city that she was aware of. It definitely wasn’t southern. She couldn’t place the accent.

Perl groaned softly, looking up at whoever she had run into. The girl was a faunus, a rabbit one to be specific. Based on her ears she would guess a Coney rabbit. With long brown hair that matched her floppy ears and pale skin, she had an innocent air around her.

Like all Beacon Students she wore the standard uniform, a white top with a vest and a reddish brown coat and a plaid skirt. It was a simple and formal uniform but, unfortunately, it had a skirt. She didn’t like skirts.

“Hey kid, you sure you’re alright? My pal here asked you a question.” A different, much more confident girl asked. She had a rich and smooth voice, it was a warm and friendly tone.

The new girl was a lot different from the rabbit Faunus, wearing the same uniform with a pair of sunglasses. With Smooth fair skin and a well developed form, her confidence was not without reason. Her hair was a warm brown with a curled caramel streak. It was… interesting. She had a strong cool aura about her.

Perl turned to the new speaker quickly, her palms growing sweaty with each passing moment. She spoke quickly with a weak voice that was barely a whisper. “U-Uh, y-ye-yeah th-that w-was m-my fault, I uh- I’m sorry?”

The second girl laughed, chuckling softly as she held out a hand to help her up. “Guess that fall was worse than it looked, she asked you if you were alright.”

Perl took the arm, brushing herself off as she took a deep breath. She refused to make eye contact, and sometimes she was so quiet she was practically mouthing the words. So yeah, she was just a  _ little  _ bit nervous. “O-oh, I uh— I’m f-fine.”

While the first girl giggled at her nervousness, the second girl wiped the sweat off of her hands. “Well that’s good, the name’s Coco, this here is my friend Velvet, you?”

Coco, huh, she seemed interesting, if that was the word. While confident, she seemed friendly enough. Then again, who knows. “I’m uh- I’m Perl. It’s n-nice to m-meet you?” Her voice could barely even be considered a whisper.

Once again, she was certain the weird looks she was probably getting were because of the fact that whenever she's around people she can barely speak for some reason! It made no sense! Why would people affect the way her vocal cords vibrate?

Well, now that she thought about it, it was probably psychological rather than biological but that's besides the point.

“Nice to meetcha, I heard about you, the Ward kid right?” She slid her sunglasses down as she appraised Perl with a smirk. As she noted earlier, brimming with confidence.

“Coco! Don’t be insensitive! Wards are usually orphans!” The faunus girl, now named Velvet, told her. 

She seemed nice, clearly aware of other people. Though it wasn’t quite necessary as she knew Coco wasn’t trying to be rude, she was just talking. Or at least, she thought so. She was pretty bad at the whole social thing.

“Oops, sorry… Perl, was it?” Coco rubbed her neck with a sheepish grin. “Didn’t mean to be mean or anything like that.”

“It’s uh, It’s f-fine.” She said meekly, refusing to meet their eyes. It was mainly out of embarrassment but also because… actually, no. It was just embarrassment. Maybe a little anxiety as well.

“Uh, are you  _ sure  _ you’re alright?” Velvet asked, seemingly concerned for her, despite them just having met. 

“I uh- I mean Yeah, I’m f-fine. I s-swear...” Perl argued, surprisingly adamant about it despite her quietness. Okay maybe she was just bad at everything that didn’t require her intelligence.

“Calm down kid, I know you’re fine. I guess the rumors were true, huh.” Coco assured her, chuckling softly as she walked along.

Wait, when had they started walking? Oh yeah, approximately one minute and forty five seconds ago. She also needed to get better about paying attention to her surroundings. Otherwise she would keep on falling into people. Wait— rumors?

“Ru- wh- I mean uh- wha- wh- what r-ru-rumors!?” Perl exclaimed, doing that weird whisper yelling thing. She was terrified by the idea that people were talking about her. 

Velvet giggled, shaking her head as she reassured the panicking girl. “No, no, nothing like that. Everyone is just curious because you’re so shy, you won’t talk to anyone.”

Perl let out a sigh of relief, letting go of the tension she hadn’t even realized she had. “O-oh…” 

“Yeah, don’t worry kid. You’ll be fine.” Coco snickered, amused by her general paranoia.

Which was fair because Perl was constantly looking around her shoulder, glancing around as if she would be attacked at any moment. Seriously, from an outside perspective it looked like she had drunk fifteen gallons of espresso and then watched horror movies.

Okay maybe that was an exaggeration, but the point was made.

“I-I kn-know.” Perl sighed heavily. “I-I just c-constantly worry. I f-feel l-like I’m n-not good enough.”

Velvet smiled sympathetically, “Don’t worry Perl, that’s an everyone problem. Some people just have it worse than others.”

“But not me! I know I’m perfect! I mean, c’mon, look at this.” Coco declared confidently, joking for the most part as she gestured to herself.

Perl giggled softly, surprising even herself. She wished she could have confidence like that, even just a fragment of it. But maybe, just maybe, if she spent time with friends like these, she could become a little bit more confident.

Uh… they did want to be her friends, right?

* * *

The Emerald Forest. The large woods just outside of Beacon Academy, one that was filled to the brim with the Creatures of Grimm. As so, it often needed routine… cleaning, if that was the word.

Why was she assigned this job? As if she knew, it was ridiculous! She was the least qualified, she wasn’t even a student!

Perl sighed as her hands shook nervously, Tick and Tock held at the ready as she walked through the dark woods. She was frightened and scared, but she signed up for this. Well she didn’t sign up for it but that didn’t matter.

The rustling of bushes distracted her from her own thoughts. A small tuft of black fur could be seen through the gaps of the underbrush.  _ “Grimm!”  _

In the blink of an eye a battle began, bloodlust began emanating from the creatures of darkness. A Beowulf burst free from the bushes, lunging towards her with outstretched claws. 

In less than a second, several bullets found their way into it's skull, smoke exiting the wounds as it collapsed. The body would dissolve in roughly ten minutes, like all Grimm.

The fight was over as soon as it began. Luckily for Perl the beast was small and weak for it's kind. She wasn’t sure she would've been able to handle it otherwise. She wasn’t exactly the best fighter.

She wasn’t belittling herself either, the beast looked like it was the runt of the pack. It was the size of a large dog at best. In fact… it was a little strange. Grimm rarely varied, they were almost always the same as the rest of their kind. So why was this one shrimpy?

Perl sighed softly. As much as she wanted to inspect the dark corpse she was a bit busy struggling to survive. The Emerald Forest wasn’t exactly the safest place to research Grimm anatomy.

She ran her fingers through her long platinum blonde hair, taking deep breaths to soothe her nerves. 

She needed to get back to Beacon Cliff, if only to punch Coco in her stupid face. Well she wouldn’t actually hit Coco, she was far too shy to actually do anything.

She was just annoyed at the fashionista for making her participate in this ridiculous training mission.

Sighing softly, Perl pushed forward and continued her journey back to Beacon. “I mean seriously! I’m not even a student, why do I have to do these dumb missions!” She complained to herself, frustrated with her situation.

She would much rather be back in her room, working on her projects. She had an identity to keep up after all. Well actually it was more like— “Oof!” 

Perl groaned as she tripped over a rock, landing on the ground. She was such a clutz… this is why she didn’t want to go on the mission.

She pouted softly as she slowly sat up, only to freeze in place as a large burst of almost painfully hot air flew into her face. The ground shook as hoof stamped into the earth loudly.

“Crap baskets.” 

* * *

“I kn-knew I should’ve trained more!” Perl cried out, attached to the Grimm’s large white horn by the hood of her light blue jacket.

The bull Grimm ran around wildly, trying to get her, but its horns kept her just out of reach as she was dragged through the Emerald Forest. Of course she just had to meet a Tauran.

Taurans were strong, large, and fast. Which was everything Perl wasn’t. 

She groaned as she reached around her back and grasped her weapon. It was a foot long staff made of several small segments that seemed detachable, Cyan energy was flowing out, revealing the dust working within it.

While she would much prefer to Dust Cast, she didn’t feel comfortable doing so while riding a Grimm. She didn’t want to hurt herself after all.

Her weapon was a multi-tool called Genesis, and it was a series of custom made hard light projectors. In layman’s terms, it was pretty much whatever weapon she wanted it to be, bar some ranged weapons. 

All it took was a twist of the segments and a pulse of aura, the hard light began to grow into a rather peculiar form. With Genesis itself as the center of the staff, hard light extended and warped into a giant wrench.

It was the first thing that she thought of.

Perl could’ve sworn that even the Grimm seemed confused at her choice in weapons, so she simply frowned. “D-Don’t judge me!”

She swung Genesis back into the giant bull’s jaw, using some Force Dust to enhance the impact.

She used the brief moment in which the Tauran was stunned to kick off of it, rolling across the ground into a new clearing. Surrounded by trees and at the cliff's edge, she had a nice open space to fight… except that she was now cornered. Lovely.

She let off shot after shot with her pistols Tick and Tock, slowly pushing the Grimm back. Except it didn’t exactly work. The shots seemed to do nothing but infuriate the bull. 

“Dust!” She swore, scowling as she tapped the sides of her pearly blue thin rimmed glasses, causing them to light up.

_ “Yes Perl?”  _ Eve asked, her voice calm and almost melodic.

“Eve! I c-could use some back up!” Perl yelled out, narrowly avoiding the Tauran’s charge.

The bull kicked up rocks and even knocked down trees with its raw strength. It was understandable that she was nervous, so she was calling in backup because she didn’t think she could handle the Grimm.

“ _ Of course, I assume you would like Adel’s assistance?”  _ Eve asked, as calm as ever. Which was fair, especially since she wasn’t designed for emotional responses.

Perl sighed, bashing the Tauran’s head with the massive hard light wrench that was Genesis. “Of course! She has a f-freaking m-minigun! Who else w-would be a better backup?!”

_ “Okay, I sent her a message. She’s on her way.”  _ The AI stated blandly.

“Dust, I swear you’re useless s-sometimes!” Perl pouted, unloading a clip of energy rounds into the Grimm to no avail. If anything, it seemed to just make it mad.

_ “I apologize but that’s not exactly my fault.”  _

Perl nodded, “I know, I know… I programmed you after all…” She muttered as she dodged another charge, swinging at it with the wrench as it ran by.

“ _ If it makes you feel any better, Coco Adel has an ETA of six minutes.”  _ Eve told her calmly, seemingly unconcerned by the fact that Perl was struggling to fight for her lie. Though she knew that wasn’t true. Eve just wasn't able to express panic all too well. 

It showed that Eve was constantly working as whenever she looked at the Tauran weak points would be highlighted. Sometimes advice or ammo warnings would be given if Eve wasn’t busy doing the hundreds of other tasks Perl gave her.

She also had to prohibit Her from hacking droids to assist her. Seriously she woke up one day to have a platoon of robots outside her room. 

_ "Besides, the Tauran you are facing is below average size and seems to be acting irregularly. I have noted in Apocrypha the total of seventeen Variants we have seen today. "  _ Eve noted as Perl dodged another charge.

“G-good.” Perl nodded nervously, panting out of exhaustion. 

The Tauran stared her down, stomping its hooves into the ground. It let out another burst of scalding hot steam as it let out a bellowing moo.

Perl sighed, deactivating her glasses as she adjusted the settings of Genesis, causing the head of the hard light staff to change from a wrench to an axe. 

The Grimm snorted, charging towards her. She once again narrowly dodged the attack, but not without consequence.

The razor sharp horns of the Tauran ripped through her aura, dropping her down to a whopping twenty seven percent. She was already past the point of dangerously low Aura in her opinion.

Though Perl did manage to tear into the side of the Grimm with the battle axe, causing ichor and ash to pour out of its side.

“C-calm down Perl, you c-can do this…” She whispered to herself reassuringly. 

The Tauran stomped its hooves, flailing around in a mad rage. It tried to kick at her with its hooves but Perl dodged out of the way using Wind Dust.

She repeated the process several times, stalling until Coco got here. She actually winced at the thought. She would be disappointed in her, she couldn’t even fight off a single Tauran. They weren’t that different than the average Ursa.

The only difference is that Taurans focus on defense, while Ursai focus on strength.

Yeah, she told Ozpin she wasn’t suited for being a huntress, but nooo, she needed to use her talents to help people. Not that there was anything wrong with that, she just… didn’t want to die.

Sighing softly, Perl brushed her thoughts aside as she swung her battle axe down upon the Grimm. However she was way off target, causing her to bite her lip in frustration.

_ “Come on Coco! Where are you!” _ Perl dived out of the way as the Tauran charged at her once again, not very creative in its applications of strength. 

She did retaliate by blasting it with shards of ice, but it didn’t do much. If it did anything at all. She could barely scratch the thing because nearly the entire thing was coated in bone plates.

If what she remembered was correct, which it was, Taurans are dumb. It’s their only weakness. If you’re fighting one alone; you either outsmart it or over power it. And since she was, well, herself, overpowering it wasn’t really an option.

So, she really only had one choice. To use her brain. She glanced at her surroundings, trying to use the terrain to her advantage. But what she found resting behind her caused her to smirk slightly.

She turned to face the Tauran, “C-come and g-get me f-fatty!” She taunted, which somehow worked, if only because her negativity lured it in.

Perl dodged the bull Grimm causing it to ram headfirst into an iron vein in the cliff, it’s large drill-like horns stuck in the rock. It wouldn’t be trapped for long so she had to act quickly.

She leapt into the air, not so gracefully, and landed on the bull’s back. She struggled to keep steady as it tried to buck her off, still struggling to get out of the boulder as well.

She placed her gloves hand against its head and channeled what little aura she had left. The machinery and piping on her gloves glowed brightly as a strange purple-gray dust came flowing into her palm.

Dust Casting: The art of utilizing Aura and Dust hand in hand. 

The Dust was manipulated using her aura, creating a field around the Grimm’s head. The Tauran roared in pain, buckling wildly as the pressure increased drastically.

It would keep on increasing the pressure until she halted the flow of dust, which would eventually cause some serious damage, especially with how… much Dust… she was using... Wait— this was a bad— _ splat! _

It was too late, by using all of her Dust, of those types, she had created a bubble of pressure that caused the beast's skull to pop. Her entire face was splattered with Grimm guts. 

She had literally made its head explode under the pressure.  _ “Note to self: Avoid using both Force and Gravity Dust together in close quarters combat. Really should’ve seen that one coming…” _

“Lovely,” Perl sighed, placing her glasses into her pocket until she could sterilize them. She didn’t really need them to see, they were purely for displaying information. “Now I need a shower.”

“Damn Girl! What happened here?” A familiar rich and smooth voice asked, causing Perl to quickly turn around.

Coco Adel, in her usual fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, had to come to the rescue… approximately seven minutes and twenty five seconds late. 

Perl simply pouted, turning away from her while mumbling under her breath. “Oh n-now you d-decide to come h-here…”

“Aw, don’t look at me like that!” Coco joked, twirling her warm brown hair around her finger. She leaned in, her sunglasses sliding down her nose. “Seriously Though, what happened?”

Perl sighed, turning to face the fashionista. Though she refused to make eye contact, she explained her situation shyly. “I r-ran into a T-Tauran and in an act of d-desperation I… I made its head e-explode.” 

“Remind me not to get on your bad side.” She joked, slinging her purse over her shoulders as she kneeled down next to Perl, sighing as she thought about her next words. “Look, I’m sorry I’m late, but look how far you’ve come. You just killed a Tauran, all by yourself. You really need to stop doubting yourself. Got that?”

Perl sighed, nodding softly. “Okay, I-I’ll f-forgive you, If! If you p-promise to keep in t-touch over the break!” 

Coco chuckled, “I was going to do that anyway, now let’s get back to Beacon.”

Perl smiled weakly, following Coco through the woods. It was a strange thought, that, in just a few months, she would be an official student of Beacon Academy, kinda.

_ "I have deemed this fight unsatisfactory and have altered your training regimen and diet accordingly. This is for your own good."  _

Dammit.

* * *

They were all lined up in a dark room. As usual, none of them knew where they were, but they all knew why they were there. It was the same reason why they all had strange mechanical collars around their neck.

They were prisoners. They were slaves. They had a job to do.

The only time they were all lined up in this room was when they were being briefed for a mission. Usually a week or two in advance.

“When I say your designation and your code sit down.” A man spoke from the darkness, his thin and tall figure barely visible in the darkness. His voice was modulated so it wasn’t recognizable, but it wasn’t very deep. 

“Copy-Cat: SP-FA-S04.” He said calmly. A Faunus with short prismatic white hair and fluffy cat ears sat down.

She seemed strangely excited to be here despite her situation, her rainbow eyes seemed distracted and confused if anything. Her white scaled outfit was strangely tight and reflective, and covered her entire body. It seemed to be some strange jumpsuit, why she wore it, the other prisoners weren’t sure..

Her appearance began to change slightly as she swung her legs back and forth, acting strangely chipper. Though she was probably just acting her age, as she couldn’t be older than fifteen.

“Vampire: SP-RA-S05.” The tall man frowned at the young faunus who was practically glaring daggers.

He was a bat faunus with two pointed bat ears on top of his head. “That’s not my name…” He grumbled softly, just quiet enough so that he couldn’t hear.

He brushed his messy black hair out of his face revealing slitted purple eyes, though his left eye was covered with a streak of silver hair. He reluctantly sat down, dusting off his black and purple suit.

“If you keep that attitude up I can, and will, shock you. Now, Gemini: SP-SA-S07.”

The prisoner named ‘Vampire’ flinched at the idea of being shocked so he straightened up and glanced at ‘Gemini.’

Unlike the previous two, Gemini was actually a pair of ten year old twins. While Vampire hadn’t ever met Copycat, he had been on training missions with Gemini. Though they went by Castor and Polly, as far as he knew at least.

They both had the same short shoulder length hair that was a strange pale whitish blue hue, though it darkened at the end. The only difference between them was that Castor had a gold streak above his left eye, while Polly had a gold streak above her right eye. This was because they were mirrored twins. If you didn’t know them it would be extremely difficult to tell the difference.

The thin man stepped into view and began pacing back and forth, his face covered by a thin white mask with the number one on the front of it. His messy black hair was visible from behind his mask but he didn’t have any recognizable traits.

“You three have been selected for a long term mission in Vale, you will be working with an associate of mine. He has been granted access to your collars so do not disobey.” He explained, glaring daggers at them.

“Question.” Copycat said calmly, looking, and acting, completely different from earlier. It was a disturbing sight. Seeing pasty white skin and messy black hair, her faunus ears became larger and more pointed. With large bags and empty purple eyes, she held a dead stare. She looked exactly like Vampire.

_ “Guess I know where she gets her codename…”  _ Vampire thought to himself, slightly disturbed by the resemblance between them. They even sounded the same. Also, how did her outfit change?

Polly and Castor didn’t seem to react, they were simply staring at each other and doing that strange mental communication thing they did. Either they’ve worked with Copycat before or they simply didn’t care.

“Copycat, please revert back to your original form, then you may speak.” The masked man told her, his voice deep because of the modulator.

The strange girl obeyed, returning to her normal appearance with a smile. “What are we doing in Vale?”

“You will be doing a variety of tasks during your stay, though I don’t know the specifics, Two will explain the actual details when you arrive. You will obey any order given to you and complete your tasks to the best of your abilities. The only thing that I was told was that there is another one like you all in Vale that you’ll be working with. She is a… new… project named Marionette: MP-FM-S03, She is a little different so keep an eye on her, we don’t want her getting into any trouble.” The masked man explained, “Any other questions?”

Castor and Polly turned to each other, then to the man. They spoke in perfect unison, it was kinda creepy actually, ““Can we have snacks?””

Vampire had to stop himself from chuckling, he should’ve guessed they would ask something like that. They were children after all. Though he often felt bad for the twins. They weren’t like anyone else under the masked men’s control. They had been here their entire life. 

Everyone with a collar around their neck had a life before all of this. They would be kidnapped, tortured, experimented on, and put to work. 

However Gemini was different. While he had been here since he was eight, they had been here since they were babies, he remembered the time when he was assigned to take care of them while the masked men were away on business. This mission would be their first time in one of the kingdoms. They had only ever been on training missions before… in fact, they hadn’t even been outside until a year ago.

“No, besides the meals you normally have, snacks will not be provided. You will be given whatever you need for the mission though.” He answered, glancing at Vampire briefly.

Vampire sighed, knowing what he meant by that. “Fine, when do we begin?”

* * *

“Like I said, not only do you need a haircut, you also need to get yourself a real combat outfit.” Coco told her adamantly.

“B-But I like my hair long!” Perl argued quietly, glancing at the large thick braid going down past her knees, hooking at the end. Her golden blonde hair was ridiculously long, it was silky smooth and took time to maintain. She did like her long hair, but it was a partial habit that she didn’t cut it. 

She wasn’t allowed to do so when she was imprisoned, and it was engraved into her mind that holding anything sharp near her face was bad. Which was true, but that didn’t make it a bad thing to cut your hair. So she supposed she just… liked long hair? 

“And what’s wr-wrong with my hoodie!?” She exclaimed shyly, glancing down at her casual attire. She wore a simple white t-shirt with a large light blue hoodie and skinny jeans. As she said, simple and casual.

“Your hair is stupid long and impractical, and you have no sense of fashion.” Coco said bluntly, honest as always.

Coco didn’t lie, not that often at least, she was usually fairly honest, bluntfully so. Oftentimes she wondered if the fashionista even knew what a white lie was.

_ “And you wonder why she has less self confidence than Vel.”  _ Fox said telepathically as he sat down next to them, making Perl jump. She hadn’t even noticed him approaching, he was as silent as always.

Fox was a strange man, being blind and all. His milky white eyes always seemed to stare into your soul, adding to his mysteriousness. Being almost one meter and eighty eight centimeters tall made him rather intimidating, especially with his muscular tan form.

People always assumed the tall man was just quiet, but the truth was far stranger. He actually was pretty open, and had an… interesting sense of humor. He just preferred to communicate with his semblance; Telepathy.

“If she doesn’t get a better outfit how will she attract all the guys?” Coco joked, teasing the young girl.

“I don’t w-want to a-attract all the guys!” Perl was red with embarrassment, hiding underneath her hoodie.

_ “Oh so you play for the other team then, eh?”  _ Fox added, amused at her nervousness. He wasn’t one to miss an opportunity for a joke.

“T-t-That’s n-not w-what I m-me-m-meant and y-you know it!” She exclaimed, her heart rate rising as she began to hyperventilate. She was telling the truth though, she had never even considered romance with either gender. So she supposed she was unsure.

She didn’t like being unsure but that was one thing she had no desire to figure out. Besides, she was far too busy freaking out!

“I’d recommend you stop the teasing there, you’ll give her an anxiety attack.” A deep and calm voice spoke, Yatsuhashi sitting down at the table.

Perl was always grateful for Yatsuhashi to be around, he often stopped Fox and Coco’s teasing when they began to go overboard. It’s not like they did it intentionally though.

Yatsuhashi was somehow even more imposing than Fox, being a whopping two meters and thirteen centimeters tall and covered in scars. Not to mention the fact that he was even more muscular than his blind teammate. 

Despite his intimidating appearance Yatsuhashi was a gentle giant, making him very easy to hang out with.

Though she could still remember when she couldn’t even be near the man without freaking out. It actually took quite awhile for Perl to be comfortable around him.

“Yatsuhashi!” Perl exclaimed quietly, already calming down. The gentle giant was arguably her favorite member of Team CFVY, though she could also say the same for Velvet.

“Hello there Perl, are you alright?” He asked, showing concern. Like she said, gentle giant.

“Y-yeah, just… a little nervous.” She admitted, quickly glancing at both Coco and Fox. Both seemed regretful that they forgot about how easily she panicked.

“Yeah… sorry about that. Didn’t mean to spook ya.” Coco apologized sheepishly, leaning back in her chair.

“I-it’s Fine…” Perl took her head out of her hoodie and smiled weakly, “You didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

_ “That doesn’t make it okay.”  _ Fox added, clearly upset with himself as well.

“A-as I said. It’s fine…” Perl said meekly, creating an awkward silence. However it didn’t last long, as a young rabbit faunus broke the silence.

“Hello, did I miss anything?” An accented voice asked, a pale girl joining them at the table. 

Velvet Scarlatina, the only member of Team CFVY she shared anything in common with. She was much smaller than the others, being closer to Perl’s own height. 

With rabbit ears that matched her long dark brown hair and a strange outfit, she was easily the most approachable of The four members. Though that might’ve been because of her timid presence. 

However what really interested Perl was her weapon. Anesidora, a camera that creates weapon replicas made of Hard Light and Energy Dust. It was a unique and fascinating weapon, one that she would love to examine… if she wasn’t hiding her intelligence.

Yeah… her life was a lie. She knew she was being paranoid… but that didn’t help at all. So she just pretended to be normal. Besides, revealing her identity might make her a target. 

No one besides a few select people knew about her real identity, which was just how she liked it. If everyone knew who she was… well that would be absolutely terrifying. She supposed it would take a while to gain people's trust if she kept secrets but she couldn’t help it… it was difficult to explain.

But everyone kept secrets right? She didn’t know everything about her friends, and she might not until she gets to know them more. 

“Not really, Coco and Fox were teasing again, Perl blew up a Tauran earlier.” Yatsuhashi said simply, having heard the news from Coco already.

Velvet turned to face her with surprise, which was fair because she wasn’t the greatest fighter. In fact, she was probably the worst in the entire school. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt a little though.

“That’s awesome!” Velvet smiles softly, being supportive as always. “Not the teasing part, I mean, the Grimm.”

“N-not really.” Perl shrunk down, she was never fond of attention. “It w-wasn’t anything special. Just a l-little bit of Dust.”

Or rather a lot of Dust.

“Oh stop doubting yourself,” Coco told her, smiling brightly. “You and Vel need some more self confidence, next year you’re going to be a student.”

“N-next year huh…” Perl muttered softly, darkening as a sad frown made its way onto her face. She didn’t like to think about that, for various reasons.

_ “Is something wrong?” _ Fox asked, taking note of the tone she held. Perl, while usually a hyperactive mess, wasn’t one to sulk. When she was sad about something she usually studied or trained to distract herself.

That or she counted in her head. She was a nerd, so what?

“Yeah.” Coco said simply, answering for her. “She’s upset that we’re leaving in a few weeks, that we won’t see her until the next school year. That sound about right, kid?”

Perl didn’t answer, she simply nodded and looked away. Coco was spot on, well, she was also nervous about actually participating in classes even if she wouldn’t be an actual student.

“It’s not even two months, and we’ll stay in contact, I promise.” Velvet tried to cheer her up, but it didn’t exactly work.

“That’s what I told her, not sure why she’s still upset.”

“I-I know that you will keep in touch… but that’s not the same. I’ll still be alone. Not to mention the fact that I’ll be a student next year, in a different grade…" Perl’s knuckles were white as she clenched her fists in frustration. 

“Come on kid, You know it’ll be fine. We can even come and visit over the break if you want.” Coco told her reassuringly.

“Y-You would do th-that?” Perl’s eyes were wide with confusion and hope. She had entertained the idea but she assumed that they would be too busy to come.

She really needed to stop assuming things. As it turned out, she was kinda bad at it.

“Of course.” Yatsuhashi said simply, being as calm as ever. “Why wouldn’t we?”

Perl paused, she felt kinda stupid for not realizing that. She was supposed to be smart yet her emotions had convinced her that her friends wouldn’t visit her.  _ “Damn electrochemical signals! Chemical imbalances are the worst!” _

“Th-thanks…” She said meekly, embarrassed by the sappy moment. She was a nerd! She wasn’t cut out for moments like these! Emotions were a pain in her butt!

“No problem kid,” Coco smirked, amused at how red Perl was. She looked like a tomato. She was just easy to tease, it was as simple as that.

Velvet smiled, “See? Everything works out in the end. You really worry too much.”

Perl looked away, knowing that she had a point. She did tend to overthink things, especially when it came to more emotional matters. 

“You’re one to t-talk…” She muttered softly, frowning slightly. 

_ “And you don’t, Vel?”  _ Fox added, turning the attention to Velvet.

“They both have a point, Bunbun.” Coco nodded, smirking slightly. “You can barely confront anything because you’re too worried about the results.”

“Yeah… you have a point. I just don’t want to make it any worse, you know?” Velvet sighed softly, knowing what they said was true. She did have a confrontation problem, when it came to things outside of her friend group, she was often far too timid.

“I kn-know what you mean.” Perl nodded, “Even knowing the f-fact that I’m over thinking things or being p-paranoid doesn’t help. The thoughts are just… there.”

“Exactly, everything you do will have some sort of result so you should always choose your actions carefully.” Velvet agreed, nodding as she went along. 

Velvet and Perl weren’t so different. They both had anxiety issues and a problem with confrontation, Perl just had it far worse.

_ “Aww, they’re bonding! They grow up so fast!”  _ Fox joked, wiping an imaginary tear from his face.

“F-Fox!” Perl pouted, she didn’t like being teased. Though she supposed not many people did. Then again, she wasn’t good with people, so what did she know?

“I still think that you two could both use some confidence.” Coco pointed out, shrugging nonchalantly.

“It’s good to be cautious, but Coco has a point. There will be a day when you have to confront your problems.” Yatsuhashi commented, being wise as always.

“Ha! Th-that’ll n-never happen!” Perl argued, though the idea lingered in her mind. Her problems… she wasn’t sure whether or not she could confront Voltz or not if the situation arised. 

That thought led to another, which led to another, and so on. Eventually leading her to wonder something.  _ “Who was Voltz, and where is he now?” _

* * *

Zero frowned as he read the file, while he was originally pleased with the assignment when he first heard about it eleven years ago. He still was pleased actually, he was just a little surprised about the unorthodox method that was used.

_ “I still can’t believe they used Voltz as their alias. Real creative.”  _ Zero smirked slightly, scrolling through the document. He was excited about the possibilities of such a project, he was exhilarated at the time.

He had to admit, he was disappointed when he discovered that the subject had escaped. He made sure everyone that worked on the project was severely punished. It was such a waste of resources. He wasn’t sure why  _ some  _ people were so adamant about keeping tabs on it.

He was constantly berated with ideas, the people working under him constantly trying to curry favor. Most ideas just weren’t realistic or simply inefficient. 

Though reading the latest reports from everyone, he was pleased with this "new" project.

Zero chuckled as he approved the project.  _ “Don’t disappoint me this time… Voltz.” _

* * *

Perl let out a sad sigh, smiling weakly as she reminisced on her short time at Beacon. It was the end of the school year and she would be sixteen soon. 

Even though she had only been here for a little over a month, she still enjoyed the time she spent with Team CFVY. They practically took care of her during her stay.

They promised they would come and visit her, and she was going to hold them up to that. If they didn’t she would give them like fifty viruses or something like that. Okay she probably wouldn’t do that, but she would be very upset!

They had all passed their exams, somehow, and finished their first year at Beacon. She would miss them… 

Yeah okay, maybe she was a little dependent on them but they were her only friends! Don’t judge her!

Perl sighed softly as the wind blew across the yard. It was a sad day for her, but a happy sad day. It was only goodbye for now.

Coco pulled her in for a one-armed hug, smiling as she tucked her sunglasses in her pocket, revealing dark brown eyes. “It’ll be quiet without ya kid, I’ll miss ya, I really will.”

“Y-You too, Coco.” Perl smiles weakly, she was sad but they had thoroughly convinced her that things would be alright. Though she still worried a little.

“We will see you soon, Perl.” Yatsuhashi told her, resting a large hand on her shoulder with a gentle smile.

“Yeah, just remember, it’s only two months.” Velvet reassured her, trying to be supportive. Vel was always sweet like that.

“I-I kn-know!” Perl pouted, looking away in embarrassment. She could deal with it, probably… 

“Aw, someone’s embarrassed.” Coco ruffled Perl’s hair, much to her chagrin. “But don’t worry kid, you’ll be fine.”

Perl huffed at her, annoyed by the teasing. “You s-suck, Coco.”

Coco let out a faux gasp, leaning back dramatically only to be caught by Fox.  _ “You have wounded her! She shall never recover!” _

Fox had his usual sly grin, chuckling softly at his own joke. He then winked in Perl’s general direction before letting Coco drop to the ground.

Perl giggled softly, laughing at their antics. Fox was always the jokester, even if it got him in trouble at times. 

“Hey!” Coco complained, sitting up as she frowned at her teammate. “How could you damage a fair maiden, such as I?” 

_ “I think out of all of the ‘maidens’ here, you're the least fair. “  _ Fox retorted, smirking as usual.

Velvet smiled weakly, upset to intervene. “As much as I’m enjoying the show, the bullheads are leaving soon.” She pointed out, albeit reluctantly.

“Sorry Perl, Velvet has a point.” Yatsuhashi sat up with a sigh, frowning as he grabbed his bags. 

_ “Oh, that’s unfortunate.” _

“Oh, I guess Bunbun is right. Sorry Kid, looks like now’s the time.” Coco told her apologetically, smiling as she grabbed her large suitcase. “See ya soon?”

Perl smiled, “Y-Yeah, see y-you soon.” 

While saddened, Perl was still happy. She knew that she would see them soon. And to think, just a little over a few months ago she was locked away in her apartment pretending that she was better off alone.

She liked having friends, she just hated making them. But maybe the result was worth it.

Perl waved to her friends as they began to step onto the bullhead, smiling brightly as they waved back. They were friends, and she would see them soon.

_ “Goodbye… for now.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: That, my friends, was a happy chapter about Perl’s brief month at Beacon. There’s a small part of me that wants to write more of this, turns out I like writing sentimental scenes, but I also want to get things rolling. 
> 
> So… I’ll probably write flashback scenes… 
> 
> Team Coffee is based off of what I learned from the book, After the Fall so I hope I’m writing them well. 
> 
> Also, about the giant wrench. When thinking of ideas for Perl’s weapons, I remembered reading something, though I’m not sure where. It was talking about how people aren’t very creative with weapon designs, how they are always simple melee/gun hybrids. This is RWBY! We can make whatever weapons we want! There are already massive sniper scythes and chainsaw boomerangs so why can’t Perl have a giant wrench? Well it’s a hard light staff but she’ll mainly use its wrench form. It adds some pizazz.
> 
> Okay that’s enough of me ranting.
> 
> The next note is about her little trick with the Tauran. That? That used all of her dust, of those types, to do that. That's not something she can pull off at any moment, it actually was an act of desperation. Moving on!
> 
> There was also a bit of world building and a hint of misdirection somewhere in the chapter. Or is there? Who knows maybe I’m just fooling around! Maybe this entire chapter was a lie! Nah, I’m just kidding.
> 
> I dunno, but I think I’ve improved greatly. At least, since my first story. Oh I was so bad at the start, but I did get better.
> 
> I somehow managed to convince people that my other story wasn’t crap. 
> 
> Anyways… I had a good time writing this, let me know of any advice, semblance or pairing preferences, or anything like that. Oh! Semblance note, a reviewer of mine suggested just weak/basic spatial manipulation as an idea. I'm hesitant about it but I will of course take it into consideration.
> 
> That's all for now folks
> 
> See ya later, Void Out!


	3. Chapter 3 - The Gears Begin to Turn

“Wh-what if s-something goes wr-wrong?” She asked quietly, absolutely terrified as she absently played with her hair. Perl was nervous, it was an important moment for her, after all.

The day had finally come. It was now or never. This would likely be one of the most difficult days of her life. She might not make it out alive, but she would try her best… maybe. It was her first day at Beacon Academy. Well not her _first_ day… but her first day as a student. She felt sick just thinking about it.

“C’mon kid, you’ll be fine. You’re cool, I’m sure you’ll make plenty of friends.” Coco reassured her, smiling as she sat down on the bench next to her.

Perl sighed softly, curling up as she asked, “B-but what if I um... m-mess up?” Seriously! There were ten billion possible ways it could go wrong and she was obsessing over every single one of them!

Coco sighed, shaking her head in mild frustration. “Seriously, Perl, you’ll do fine. You’re an amazing kid, and everyone is gonna like ya.” 

“But—“No buts!” Coco interrupted her attempt to get out of her situation. “You got a lovely new outfit, you’re awesome, you’re… not a bad fighter, and you’re a good kid. So trust me when I say that you’ll be fine.”

Perl nodded softly, she had a point… her new outfit was nice. It was a little bit different from her normal outfits, having a dark blue jacket with pearl colored accents instead of her normal hoodie, it even had her emblem on it! Other than that? Just a pair of black pants with some light blue accents.

Her top was also nice, a pale short sleeved shirt with both gold and black accents. Not to mention the weird circuit like design it had on the back of it. She thought she looked cool… ish. But what if other people didn't like it? What if they thought it was weird or ugly!?

Wait, Coco picked it out. She could trust Coco, right? 

The fashionista was very adamant on fixing her clothes, so over the break she took her down to Beacon to go clothes shopping… it was… awful. It made her feel weird and gross in some way if that made sense. It also baffled her how she could get covered in Grimm guts and be fine but as soon as she's in a shopping mall everything feels unsanitary.

It made absolutely no sense, none whatsoever. Still, the trip was horrifying.

Perl shuddered as she remembered the shopping trip in which she gained this particular outfit. Running around through the crowded stores, trying on everything Coco thought would look good on her. It was a horrifying experience, but if she could get through that then surely she could get through this, right?

Yeah, she could get through a single day at least… Maybe. Hopefully.

“O-Okay Coco, you’re r-right. I can um... do th-this.” Perl smiled with weak determination as she turned to face her friend, only… to discover she had already left.

_“Oh come on!”_

* * *

Well if she didn’t want to interact with anyone, maybe she could research them to see if they would make good friends? Doing background checks on random strangers wasn’t weird at all, right? Yeah… she was just being… thorough. The repetitive tapping of her foot said otherwise.

She knew it was weird. Well, she thought it was strange at least.

Perl nodded to herself sharply, trembling with her small spark of determination. Reluctantly, she tapped the sides of her glasses, activating the screens.

 _“Yes, Perl?”_ Eve asked, ready to follow any given command.

“C-Can you uh... pull up all, um, backgr-ground information on s-some, uh, people for me?” She whispered under her breath, trying not to look crazy because she was talking to herself. Well she was talking to Eve but it looked like she was talking to herself.

 _“Of course, no one can hide from me, after all.”_ Eve replied, information flooding the lenses as the people passing by were scanned. _“All the details will be stored on Apocrypha, but I will give you the basics.”_

_“Blake Belladonna, while she doesn’t have an official criminal record, she definitely has committed crimes before due to her White Fang affiliations. She is the daughter of Ghira, the chief of Menagerie, and Kali Belladonna, his wife.”_

Perl raised an eyebrow at the girl sitting on the bench just across from her. While her bow was an… okay disguise, matching with her black hair and, what was presumably a set of ears, anyone could find out who she was by searching her name on the RemNet. She could've at least used a fake name!

_“Cardin Winchestor, a student hailing from Pharos Academy in Vale. While he has no direct criminal record, he has a history of Violence and Aggression. It would seem the only reason he has not been arrested was because of his father's influence, I recommend avoiding this one.”_

“Yeah… I think I-I’ll uh... keep that in m-mind…” Perl whispered, eager to avoid the red-brown haired student. She wasn’t fond of bullies, she didn’t think anyone was.

_“Ruby Rose, a grade-skipper arriving from Signal, a school on the island of patch. While not the best students, she has shown extreme talent in combat and forging. She was allowed into Beacon early when she foiled one Roman Torchwick’s attempt at robbing a Dust shop downtown.”_

A grade skipper!? What was Ozpin thinking!? Then again she was here as well… so she couldn’t talk. Though the Rose girl did seem interesting. _“A weapons prodigy, huh. Maybe we could get along?”_

Perl sighed, shaking her head as she stole one last cursory glance at the silver eyed girl. Yeah, she was way too bad at making friends for that to ever happen. She bit her lip softly, frowning as she moved on to the familiar girl in white and blue next to her.

_“Weiss Schnee—-"_

Perl stopped listening right then and there. She knew that name. And not in the ‘Oh I’ve heard of her’ way, she _knew_ Weiss Schnee.

Of course, she had never met the girl personally… but remember when she said she had pen pals? Yeah, Weiss was one of them. They had known each other for a while.

 _“Oh what do I do? Do I introduce myself? Do I tell her my secret identity? Or do I lie and just use my name?! But what if she doesn’t care then!?”_ Perl began to breathe in and out heavily, she knew that Weiss was coming to Beacon. She just… actually that was it. She knew Weiss was coming, she was just overreacting.

Perl shook herself out of her stupor and sat up, slightly nervous. She could do this, like Coco said. She was awesome. She could do this. Probably.

Smiling weakly, Perl stepped towards her "friend" and… almost immediately tripped as a girl in a red cloak fell in front of her.

““Oof!”” Both Perl and the girl landed on the ground in a cloud of dust, sprawled over a pile of luggage. _“Oh no…”_

Perl had landed on top of the girl, Ruby, she thought it was. Her red streaked, ebony hair was a complete mess and her red and black dress was just as dirty. She had just ruined a poor girl’s outfit and fallen on top of her, which probably hurt!

She was fairing slightly better, while her outfit was a mess her hair was left relatively untouched. She was lucky for that, her hair took a long time to maintain. It was annoying at times, but she thought it was worth it. 

Perl wasn’t upset that she had fallen onto someone, well she was, but she was mainly freaking out because she had just fallen into Weiss’ luggage. It also didn’t help that there was that weird unsanitary feeling again. She just felt gross.

However that fear briefly disappeared as she stared up at the icy blue eyed figure standing above her. It wasn’t that she was relieved to see her, if anything that made her nervous, but the blue scarf she was wearing around her neck was another story.

It was a deep dark blue, with a white snowy wind like design embroidered onto it. The flecks on it made it obvious that Dust was embedded into it.

She made that scarf, it was a gift for Weiss’ birthday. She made that, and she was glad to see Weiss wearing it. Now the question was… Her gaze turned to the long black elbow-length glove on Weiss’s left hand. Actually she wasn’t sure why she even checked, of course she would be wearing Glatteis. It was practically a part of her weapon.

“Are you two even listening?” Weiss asked, sounding only slightly frustrated. Her cold glare accentuating the scar going down her pale face, cutting across her eye. 

Perl shot up, Ruby doing the same. She looked around nervously, trying to find an out. She then sighed and slumped her shoulders slightly. “Um, Y-Yeah…” She whispered meekly, glancing at her neighbor. Why did talking feel so terrifying?

Ruby was in a similar state, confused and nervous. She quickly dusted off her red and black dress, fixing the clasps of her blood red cloak. “Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. I really didn’t mean to cause an accident.” She said quickly. 

“Well of course you didn’t mean to cause an accident, that’s what makes them an accident.” Weiss pointed out sternly, tapping her foot impatiently as she flicked her white off-center ponytail back.

“I-I, uh, also ap‐pologize.” Perl stuttered, still meek and quiet as she picked up Weiss’ luggage. She was especially careful with the vials of dust, particularly the dark red ones, as Combustion Dust was… well, combustible.

“Well that’s not enough, you two were foolish and would have hurt someone. Dust is highly volatile, you know?” Weiss practically snatched the vile of Combustion Dust from Perl’s hand, causing her to yelp.

“O-Of course!” She replied shyly, practically squeaking her words out in a hushed tone. She was practically always whispering.

Perl began to toy with her golden hair, getting anxious as her heart rate quickened. She was doing so well, why now? Or was she actually doing super poorly and embarrassing herself earlier like a failure?

“Hey, stop it!” Ruby seemed annoyed, frustrated even. She stamped a black and red boot down as she pressed forward. “We both apologized so would you calm down?”

Perl began to take deep breaths, trying not to make a scene. “Of course I’m upset! This is highly dangerous Dust, if something went wrong we could’ve exploded!” Weiss argued, starting to get ticked off.

Perl bit her lip softly, trying to distract herself from the attention they were grabbing. “H-Hey… um... Quiet down…” She whispered weakly, too quietly for either of them to hear.

“And aren’t you a little too young for Beacon? This is no place for a child!” Weiss added onto her assault, clearly upsetting Ruby, and confusing Perl.

This was nothing like the Weiss she knew, or at least, the Weiss she thought she knew. The heiress seemed so polite and kind in the messages they exchanged, she was so open too. Did something happen?

“I’m not…” Ruby seemed to mutter something, her fists turning white as she clutched the ends of her crimson cloak. 

“What was that? I couldn’t hear you? Try annunciating this time.” Weiss said rudely, beginning to raise her voice.

“I already apologized!” Ruby yelled, clearly done with Weiss. 

Perl jolted back a little, breathing heavily as she struggled to calm herself. She wasn’t sure she could take much more of this. It was kinda stressful. Maybe Coco was wrong… this was clearly a bad idea. She was going to have a heart attack if this kept up. She just couldn't take it! Every footstep, every voice in the crowd, Weiss' yelling, even the light from the sun... it was all just so much!

She just couldn’t take it! But… she couldn’t do anything about it either… she was weak...

“Well, as I said, Apologies aren’t enough! You need to go back to a training school like the child you are!” Weiss was absolutely fuming at the younger girl. Her eyes were hot with anger. She was really ticked off.

Perl began mumbling under her breath, she probably looked like some sort of psycho right now but she needed to calm down. All the eyes staring at her made her feel small and gross. It was a horrid sensation that drowned her, dragging her into the depths of fear.

“‘Child? You’re the child, you stuck up princess!” Ruby stomped forward, absolutely furious with the heiress. She nearly reached for something behind her cloak but stopped herself before she did something rash. “A prissy jerk like you could never cut it as a huntress!”

The odd eyed girl simply watched in concern and worry as she took in the scene. She was paralyzed in fear, besides her constant hyperventilating. Her head throbbed in pain, she wanted to look away but she couldn’t. She wasn’t even sure what was going on at this point.

“Say that again…” Weiss seemed different from before, rather than red hot with anger, she was ice cold. It was dark and menacing. Ruby had clearly struck a nerve. It frightened Perl.

It was not unlike a blizzard. Her wrath was sharp and cold, a frozen knife. Weiss Schnee was absolutely furious. She didn’t know Ruby very… actually she didn’t know her at all, but she was sure that Ruby was in trouble. Perl had wandered into a fight she wasn’t sure she wanted any part of. Scratch that, she was sure she didn’t want to be involved. She definitely would've ran away if her body didn't feel like jelly.

Ruby was about to retaliate, but was stopped as a much smoother voice spoke out, one with plenty of wisdom. “Stop it, both of you. It’s unbecoming, and besides, you're clearly bothering your friend.” 

The new speaker stepped in, clearly disappointed. Her dark amber eyes showed a cut of knowledge. With wavy black hair and a bow that matched her white and black outfit, it was a mysterious look. One that Perl recognized from earlier.

 _“Blake Belladonna…”_ Perl took a deep breath and straightened herself out, fixing her large braid and her outfit. “I-I’m uh... fine. Don’t w-worry about... me...” This was clearly a lie as she was practically shaking.

Slowly, Perl began taking deep breaths in, holding them, before releasing them. It helped calm her somewhat.

Blake ignored her, glaring at Weiss with a sharp gaze. If looks could kill… “Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the mighty Schnee Dust Company. You’re as bad as the rumors say.”

Weiss stepped back, her eye twitching with unbridled rage. It felt as if the entire courtyard was frozen. Another nerve had been struck. It was like a pressure of over several thousand metric tons had been dropped on top of them. Or maybe Perl was the only one who felt that way. That was also a possibility.

“You’re rude, full of prejudice, and your ego is far too large for a place like this.” Blake said, almost lecturing her. This argument was personal for her, that much was obvious. Why? That was something only Perl and Blake knew. Well… she didn’t know… but with what she knew she could take a pretty good guess.

“H-How dare you!?” Weiss seemed utterly shocked, taken aback by the girl’s attitude. The pressure multiplied. 

Perl hadn’t heard any rumors about Weiss herself, then again, the Weiss she had met was nothing like the one before her. They were like two separate people. One was gentle like snow, the other was frigid like ice. What happened to the Weiss from their letters and emails?

“You want to act all prideful? Then maybe you should take a better look at yourself first.” Blake walked away without another word. Leaving Weiss stammering to herself in a daze.

“I-I won’t forget this!” Weiss yelled, storming off with her white and black coat trailing behind her. 

She was nothing like the Weiss she thought she knew…

Perl let out a sigh, releasing the breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. She really needed to figure out what was going on. She knew that Weiss’ father was being tough on her for wanting to go to Beacon but… was he really that bad?

I mean it couldn’t be that big of a change could it? And if Weiss was like that then what was—“Hello! Anyone home!?”

Ruby waved her hand back and forth in front of Perl’s contemplating gaze, trying to grab her attention. “Are you alright? You seem kinda pale…” 

“Oh uh... yeah… I-I um... I’m fine… I j-just… I-I'm a little... nervous… and sh-shy?” Perl replied weakly, whispering softly. Lovely. Now she looked like an incompetent fool.

Ruby giggled slightly, nodding in understanding. She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, smiling wryly. “Yeah… I can be kinda shy at times too.”

Perl doubted that, Ruby seemed open and friendly. Socially inept? Awkward? Maybe, but shy? Maybe not… Then again, maybe she was wrong. It wasn’t hard to tell that she was bad with people… so it is totally possible she was shy.

“S-so… I-I’m uh— I’m Perl, and um... you are?” Perl asked nervously, still refusing to meet the girls eyes. She already knew the answer, but Ruby hadn’t introduced herself and it would be weird if she already knew that. And to avoid her anxiety, she was distracting herself by taking in Ruby’s appearance.

Originally she didn’t care about looks but Coco engrained the idea that fashion mattered into her mind. Though that doesn’t mean she was obsessed with it, she just made sure her outfits weren’t entirely hideous.

Ruby… made a poor choice in clothing, at least in her opinion. Perl would never be caught wearing a skirt. What if someone saw under it while they were fighting!? Skirts were bad. Not to mention she only wore black and red, she needed some flair… She was getting side tracked, she did that a lot. Okay maybe Coco was rubbing off on her more than just a little bit.

“Oh, I’m Ruby! And today… has not been a good day.” Ruby proclaimed, smiling brightly. Sitting down on the nearby bench, she sighed softly. She seemed happy and sad at the same time, it was a little weird. Emotions made no sense, sometimes they just made her feel icky and gross.

“Y-Yeah… my uh... b-best friend kinda d-ditched... me and, uh, told me t-to make some uh... new f-friends…” Perl slumped down on the bench next to Ruby with a very similar sigh.

Ruby giggled, laughing at their odd situation. “No way! My Sister did the same thing!”

Perl practically snorted, giggling silently at the coincidence. “W-Wow… neat, huh.” She whispered in mild amusement.

It was a coincidence, a really interesting one. Ruby was actually kinda similar to her, in some small ways. Mainly that her sister, and her own sister figure, were kinda rude… 

Well maybe she was overreacting, but she was still kinda annoyed at Coco for ditching her.

A new voice interrupted her, grabbing both of their attentions, “H-Hey ladies, how are you gals?”

* * *

Jaune Arc was, in a word, weird. He opened up with flirting, which did not go well for her. Well _technically_ he wasn’t flirting. To flirt means to entertain an idea or a person with non-serious intentions. Since Jaune intended to… court… Ruby or herself, he wasn’t flirting.

Still, she totally didn't silently flip out and hyperventilate for one minute and thirty-two seconds before calming down. Completely baseless accusations.

Now, back to Jaune.

He was also taller than both of them, he was… tall, blonde, and scraggly. He was like a very lean beanpole, he had practically no muscle on him, but he wasn't quite skinny, if that made sense. She was talking gibberish again, wasn't she?

Anyways, moving on!

Despite his appearance, he was still rather frightening for… someone like her. Yeah… Coco had a point, she _really_ needed some self confidence.

Perl sighed, walking slightly slower than her new acquaintances. She was slightly intimidated, having to hang out with two strangers.

_"Calm down Perl, both of them seem nice and I'm sure you'll be fine. Nothing bad will happen, I'm sure of it."_ Eve's reassuring words barely helped at all, as they were literally coming from a computer.

Jaune once again pulled her from a daze, his words catching her attention. “All I’m saying is that motion sickness is a surprisingly common problem.”

“Look, I’m sorry but you still puked on my Sister.” Ruby teased, smiling while occasionally glancing back at Perl.

“A-Actually… um... motion sickness, while c-common, still only... affects the m-minority, roughly thirty percent... T-Take our age g-group and um... Aura into account, motion s-sickness would actually be k-kinda rare.” Perl explained quickly, surprisingly confident despite her situation.

Both Ruby and Jaune stared at her like she was an alien or a robot of some sort.

“O-Oh… I uh... j-just— um... I just like f-fun facts…” Perl said quickly, eager to explain away what had just happened.

Both Ruby and Jaune looked to each other with doubt, both raising an eyebrow. They then turned back to Perl and simply shrugged in unison. They didn't believe her lie for a second did they?

There was a thick layer of tension, an awkward silence that hung around them. They all glanced around, unsure of what to do, but Perl was freaking out slightly. Although that was kinda obvious due to sweaty palms and shaking hands.

 _“This is getting really weird.”_ Per tapped her foot absently, her heartbeat thumping loudly. _“Great, Heart palpitations…"_

Ruby, however, decided to alleviate the silence. “So… I have this thing.” She whipped out a massive scythe, slamming it into the ground in demonstration.

 _“That looks like, maybe fifty, or even fifty five caliber. Possibly sixty but I doubt it, the recoil would be too difficult for her to handle. I might be over estimating, she could be using something similar to the .416 Barret, or my first guess; the .50 BMG. It could also be custom designed, not using any specific gun blueprint. The craftsmanship is really good, she poured her heart and soul into it, literally. It looks like the alloy had aura imbued into it during the forging process…”_ Perl examined the crimson scythe carefully, she was a little impressed. The girl really was a prodigy, huh.

“W-Woah… What is that!?” Jaune exclaimed, his sapphire eyes widening in surprise. He stepped back slightly, seemingly fearful of the large blade.

“It’s a customizable high-impact sniper-scythe!” Ruby quickly transformed it into its rifle form, pleased with her weapon.

“Wh-wha?” Jaune seemed absolutely clueless, much to her amusement.

“I-It’s um, also a g-gun?” Perl added softly, almost asking herself the question. If that didn’t demonstrate her low self-confidence she didn’t know what did. Unfortunately she did have to stop herself from berating Ruby with questions. 

“Exactly!” Ruby cheered, surprisingly chipper as she folded her scythe away.

“Oh… well I got this thing?” He said, raising a long sword in what appeared to be a compressed scabbard, implying that it transformed somehow. 

Perl could appreciate the simple weapons, she had designed some simple ones before, but the way he handled it… it was unnatural. Maybe he switched weapons? It was possible… but unlikely, he would have to be stupid to change weapons just before Beacon started.

She supposed there could be some sentimental reason, that was possible. She would have to do some digging later. Okay that was a lie she would have Eve do the digging while she worked on research or something like that.

“It’s also a shield!” He demonstrated by expanding his scabbard, proving Perl’s theory. It was an ornate shield, white with gold linings, which matched his armor.

“Woah… gotta love the classics, eh?” Ruby said with admiration, leaning up close to examine the weapon. She smiled, turning to Perl with curious silver eyes. “So, Perl, What are your weapons?” 

Perl’s odd eyes brightened, her nervousness nearly fading. Nearly. She smiled and held out her hands, showing off the black gloves. They were simple gloves with silver tips, gold accents, and digital screens on her arms. They seemed to be high tech devices of some sort, but they weren’t actually that advanced.

Sure they could connect to most systems but that wasn’t even their primary use. They were also Foci for her Dust Casting. The Aurum piping helped a lot by making it responsive to her own aura.

“Oh! Um, Th-These are for uh... Dust Casting, I call th-them Origin." Ruby looked on with awe, curiously gazing over them. She was about to tap at the screens but Perl pulled them back. She was surprisingly quick about it too, she barely gave Ruby a chance to examine them.

She didn’t want Ruby to accidentally activate them. While that could do many things, there was the risk that she would accidentally cause Dust to flow.

She then immediately whipped out a pair of pistols, with what appeared to be a clockwork theme. One had a zero on it with a black and gold theme, while the other had a one with a dark blue and pearl theme. And despite their steampunk appearance, they were actually advanced dust pistols, though they were practically hand cannons with the amount of force they held. Seriously, they packed a mean punch. They used custom rounds that were utterly massive for your standard handgun. 

“Ooh, What are these?” Ruby asked, looking over them with extreme intrigue. The cloaked girl was practically drooling over the guns, but Perl made sure to hide a certain symbol from her.

Perl smiled, “These are, uh, my guns, T-Tick and Tock. They use D-Dust rounds and the bullets are... um, enhanced with Gravity Dust, well there’s more t-to it than that, but I c-could go on for ages.” Perl holstered her guns and pulled out her final weapon. 

She wasn’t lying either. She really could go on. She used Gravity Dust, Force Dust, and Inert Dust to make a barrel that would drastically increase the force, while reducing recoil, depending on the charge given. It was like holding a rail gun in her arms. That may or may not have been a large exaggeration. 

“Last b-but not least, G-Genesis, It’s a simple hard light projecting staff. It uses... s-segmented projectors in a tw-twisted copy c-circuit.” Perl gave a small demonstration, forming a hammer before deactivating it and putting it away. “And uh— That’s r-really it.”

She definitely didn't stop herself before she went on a massive rant about the intricacies of her weapons. Entirely baseless accusations.

“Wha? I have zero clue about what you two just said.” Jaune, who had been watching in confusion the entire time, muttered. 

“O-Oh… I’m s-sorry, I didn’t uh... mean to, um, g-go on a rant.” Perl apologized, losing all of her previous confidence. She subtly tapped her glasses, wincing when she saw the time. “Shoot! We’re g-gonna be l-late!”

“We are!?” Jaune seemed worried, confused even. “Is there some map, something like that?” 

Perl snorted, shaking her head slightly. “J-Just f-follow me…” 

* * *

“Ruby! Over here, I saved you a spot!” A voice called out over the murmurs of the crowd, quickly drawing the girl’s attention. 

Ruby peeled up brightly, turning to Perl and Jaune with an apologetic smile. “Sorry guys, that’s my sister, I have to go.”

“I-It’s Fine…” Perl nodded in understanding, smiling softly as she gave a soft wave. She tried to ignore the hundreds of students around her. It wasn’t working… 

She was constantly eyeing her surroundings, as if there was something out to get her hidden in the crowd. Or rather, it was as if she was afraid the crowd itself was out to get her.

“See you later?” Jaune waved as well, though he seemed to question his own response. But it was too late, Ruby was already gone, too far away to hear their goodbyes.

Perfect! Now it was just Jaune and herself in a very crowded auditorium! 

...

Oh gosh she already felt sick, there were so many people! It was suffocating, she felt like she was sinking somehow! It didn't even make sense but it hurt! A lot! Every sound stabbed into her head like needles, it was awful…

She needed to go somewhere safer, and not alone either. She couldn’t be alone, not with so many people around. No she couldn’t handle that. 

_"Perl, calm down. You are safe, you are sound. Simply count by the powers of two and remain calm and relaxed. You are okay, you will be fine. Nothing is wrong."_

She ignored Eve's words of reassurance and pulled Jaune, literally, to a corner where she sat down in the corner trying not to freak out. She was trembling in fear, there was no way to describe the panic she felt. 

Hiding in the corner helped but not a lot, she was still taking deep breaths while counting the powers of two. What? Everyone has their own ways to calm down, her's was just a little nerdy.

_"2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512…"_

"Woah, what?" Jaune exclaimed, confused at first before his look turned to concern. He must've noticed something off about her. Yeah she must've done something stupid… "Are… Are you alright?" He asked, confusing her.

 _"See, everything will be alright. Just as Adel said, you already have a friend who's concerned for you."_ Eve once again attempted to reassure her, doing her best to assist her charge while doing the countless other tasks she was given. She was awesome like that. _"Now, remember, deep breaths in for approximately four seconds, hold the breath for seven seconds, then breathe out over the span of eight seconds."_

It was a neat trick that was especially effective for calming people down, and always seemed to help Perl. It tricked the body from leaving a sympathetic response, fight or flight mode, into a parasympathetic response. After repeating the process several times she looked up at her taller friend. Her mismatched eyes were tearing up slightly and she was still trembling.

Immediately Jaune's gaze widened, with what seemed to be recognition or familiarity. That only seemed to confuse Perl even more. "Hey, you alright?" He asked once again, tentatively, as he was hesitant to do anything but eager to help nonetheless.

She simply frowned, looking away from his gaze. "...N-Not really…" She mumbled softly, feeling ashamed and embarrassed. Not to mention terrified.

"Hey, it's about the people, right? You remind me a lot of one of my sisters in that aspect, just… a little more extreme. Just take some more deep breaths and count to ten or something like that." He said softly, trying to calm her down. Which she definitely appreciated, Jaune was nice. If she had a team she would want him on it.

Still, she took his advice.. Deep breaths… Perl clenched her fists and went back to counting, just not to ten. _"131,072, 262,144, 524,288, 1,048,576…"_

Why did life have to be such a pain… why was everything so terrifying? Why was she so weak and pathetic… she couldn’t even stand strong in a crowd full of people…

She really wanted to be normal, to just go about life not having to deal with being a kidnapping victim. To just have friends and nerd out at times. Normal. To be able enter a crowded room without starting to cry.

Yet that was who she was, she was a scared little girl who freaked out at loud noises and lots of people.

After a moment that felt like ages to Perl, she looked up at Jaune once again. "...Th-thanks…" She whispered meekly. Though it was barely audible, Jaune seemed to understand her.

"Now, I want you to keep taking deep breaths and just… stay calm." Now, that was easier said than done but Perl complied, shutting her eyes tightly and taking more deep breaths. She could really use a distraction right about now.

… 

As if answering her prayers, Professor Ozpin walked onto the stage. He silenced the crowd with a snap of his fingers, literally, as he stepped up to the microphone

The silence helped Perl immensely, as the noises were driving her crazy. According to the research she did on the topic, it was some sort of sensory overload that came along with her anxiety. It made her head pound but thankfully it was slowly fading.

“First, I would like to Welcome you all to Beacon Academy. Tomorrow you will take your first step to being Hunters and Huntresses, it will be a new day for many of you.” Ozpin bowed slightly, resting his cane as he began a strange speech. Or at least, Perl found it strange. At least it was a distraction from the fact that she was sinking into an endless abyss of people.

It wasn’t a good distraction though… 

Perl was still trembling in her seat, but she had actually started calming down which was a major improvement. She was fairly certain that without Jaune's help she would've ended up sobbing in the corner. Still… she calmed down unnaturally fast. She was still freaking out a little, but she was calming down quickly… was this a sign of progress? She certainly hoped so.

She would have to find a way to thank him later...

“Despite that, you all are not ready. You are simply absent energy awaiting purpose.” Ozpin began pacing back and forth upon the stage, a wise yet intimidating look in his eyes. Or rather, Perl found it intimidating. "But why did you come here?"

She felt like he was staring into her soul.

The crowd began to whisper, confused, and even a little offended, by his words. Which was fair, he essentially called everyone useless. Still, the whispers made her head hurt. _“Please tell me he’s not going to give a unity speech…”_

“Some of you are running from the past, others are running towards something. Maybe you’re just here supporting your friends, avenging someone you’ve lost, or maybe you’re the victim.” Perl could’ve sworn that Ozpin looked right at her when he spoke that last line. That only served to worry her more.

She also noticed the worried or confused glances other students were giving her as she sniffled softly. They probably thought she was weak and pathetic…

 _"You better not be thinking poorly of yourself again."_ Eve said with a stern, almost motherly tone. Of course, Perl couldn't respond because she was stupid and didn't make herself a scroll to use as communication with Eve.

No! Bad thoughts! She just… needed to focus on the speech… 

"Whatever the reason may be, you are here to become Hunters, but you have a long way to go." Ozpin’s grim stare changed to a solemn, yet slightly optimistic look. His dark brown eyes pierced everyone in the crowd, like blades of wisdom. “Here at Beacon, we will unify you all and take you there. We will take your energy and make you into the finest hunters you can be.”

With that, Ozpin walked off the stage, a tall blonde woman replaced him. Glynda Goodwitch had walked onto the stage. “All first years will report to the ballroom tonight; your initiation begins tomorrow. You are dismissed.”

Perl frowned, Ozpin’s speech seemed off. It was personal. While he was talking to everyone, he was also talking to a few select people, including herself. Well, on the bright side, at least it was over! People were leaving!

"So, are you, uh, feeling any better?" Jaune asked softly, seemingly a little awkward. He probably didn't know how to deal with her.

"A l-little…" She whispered in return, refusing to meet his gaze. She still felt shy and awkward.

“Well that’s good, I think. Hey, how about we meet up with Ruby?" He suggested, probably trying to find something to distract her. Fortunately it seemed to work somewhat 

“S-Sure…” Perl nodded, slowly calming down as students left the room. Don't get her wrong, she was still having an internal panic, it was just less severe. Besides, Ruby would help take her mind off of her nervousness a little, hopefully. There were only fifty two students left in the Auditorium, so that was much better than before.

Perl was still a bit hesitant, especially when she saw Weiss hovering over Ruby. She seemed… disappointed if anything. _"536,879,912, 1,073,741,823, 2,147,483,648…"_

Stop judging her. She was panicking and it calmed her down.

“...Look, I apologize for being rude earlier, but if you think we’re going to be besties and talk about cute boys like tall, blonde, and scraggly over there, then you're sorely mistaken.” Weiss said sternly, frowning as she thumbed towards Jaune. “Now, if we’re done, we’re supposed to head to the Ballroom.”

“Oh… okay then…” Ruby said sullenly, a taller blonde girl comforting her as Weiss walked away. 

“It’s okay Rubes, you don’t need her. You’re awesome by yourself!” The older girl told her, genuine warmth in her lavender eyes. She was loud and scary… 

“H-Hi... um, R-Ruby…” Perl greeted, waving softly as she approached. She was a little bit more nervous than usual, mainly because there was another new person.

The blonde girl stood up, looking towards them with curious lavender eyes. She looked them up and down before turning to Ruby. “Are these the friends you were telling me about?” She asked.

Ruby looked up in surprise, “Perl! Jaune!” She seemed shocked that they were here, almost as if she expected them to leave without her. Still, the yelp caused Perl to flinch imperceptibly.

“Hey!” Jaune greeted simply, giving a small half wave.

“I’ll take that as a yes… and hot damn, you weren’t lying when you said she had long hair. Nice clothes though.”

"Huh? Hey! Perl?!" Ruby called out.

Yeah, Perl may or may not have run away immediately.

* * *

Perl frowned softly, tapping her foot nervously. She was anxious, extremely so. Not only did she feel guilty about running away, she had a decision to make. She was given two options, and she had to make a choice. It was a big decision, for her at least. 

She could either sleep in her own room, or she could go with everyone else. The obvious choice was to hide in her room, avoiding everyone… but she could also hang out with her new friends. Mainly Jaune or Ruby, as they were the only people she actually knew about.

Perl took a deep breath, nodding softly, _“Coco said I need some confidence, so let’s do it.”_

She grabbed the school issued sleeping bag with a shaky smile. She could do this, she knew she could… she just wouldn’t get a wink of sleep and would be counting the powers of two all night.

Perl entered the ball room with her head hung low, hidden under her large blue hoodie. She didn’t exactly feel comfortable but there was no going back now, she just needed to find Ruby or Jaune. She tried to ignore the gross disgusting feeling that washed over her but she failed miserably. It probably had something to do with the unsanitary, crowded, and disorganized ballroom.

She just… didn’t like it. It was scary, yet at the same time the fact that many people were asleep reassured her just a little. Still, even then she was surprisingly calm, at least, calmer than most would expect her to be. She surprised herself with the fact that she wasn't panicking, but she was also a little proud of herself as well.

 _“Why are there so many students!”_ Perl wondered, speed walking by them to avoid interaction. She rushed through the crowd, blushing furiously. She felt like everyone was staring at her, despite the fact that almost nobody was. Once again she was grateful that a fair portion of them were asleep.

Perl froze, letting out a sigh of relief as she heard a familiar voice call her name. “Perl?” Ruby asked curiously. Well, at first it was relief then it was just a different kind of fear.

“R-Ruby!” She practically exclaimed it, albeit quietly, glad to have run into someone she knew. Even if Ruby was wearing… a strange outfit. Seriously she was wearing pajama pants with strawberries on them and a Grimm eye mask. It didn’t exactly scream huntress material. “Uh... d-do you, um, mind if I-I, uh, rest here t-too?”

“Sure? I don’t understand why you wouldn’t be able to.” Ruby frowned, seemingly confused and concerned. "But uh… why did you run back there?"

Perl let another sigh of relief as she rolled out the plain sleeping bag. She made sure it was all neat and tidy before laying down. She really needed to figure out this whole social thing. "I um… just... I w-was scared…" She whispered.

"Oh…" It seemed like it finally hit Ruby just how much people scared her. 

“So… Perl was it? I don’t think I got to introduce myself.” Another voice asked, it was familiar. She was pretty sure that it was Ruby’s sister, despite the fact that they looked nothing alike. “I’m Yang, Ruby’s older sister.” 

“Oh... um... Nice to uh... m-meet you, Yang.” Perl whispered nervously, avoiding her gaze. Yang was confident, similarly to Coco, and it was just a little intimidating.

“Wow, you really are shy.” Yang raised an eyebrow, looking Perl up and down. 

“I-I Know…” Perl admitted nervously, looking away in embarrassment. She _really_ needed to get over her social anxiety. Then again, that was much easier said than done.

“That’s Okay, I’m a little shy too!” Ruby added, writing something down on a sheet of paper. She seemed sentimental about it so she was probably writing a letter.

Perl wouldn't lie, Ruby’s messy handwriting made her cringe a little. Which only made her feel guilty about cringing, which made her cringe at herself… it was a vicious cycle.

“Yeah, I know you are Rubes. Now, Perl, I have an extremely important question. It’s a matter of life and death…” Yang said dramatically, causing Perl to shrink back slightly. 

“Eep! Um, uh... Wh-What is it?” She asked anxiously, looking around in a panic. She wasn’t sure if she could handle something so important, what if she messed it up? Then people could die! Wait, what was she even supposed to do?

“How do you take care of your hair?” Yang asked simply, causing Perl to deadpan. She was that serious about hair? That was utterly ridiculous! Yang leaned in forward, pressing towards Perl with urgency. “No, seriously, I have a hard time taking care of my hair and you have like twice as much hair as me, it looks amazing too. What’s your secret?” 

Perl looked to Ruby for help, but she simply shrugged. “Yang’s not going to give up, Y’know that, right?”

Lovely, she had a very frightening girl interrogating her about her hair. Her stomach felt like it was tied in a very complex knot.

Perl sighed, she would ask Eve to give her a distraction to get away from the girl who was literally five centimeters away from her face, but she couldn’t exactly contact her. Why? Because Yang was five centimeters away from her face.

 _"I'm not coming to your assistance unless directly ordered to, socializing is necessary."_ Eve's voice whispered into her ear, not even needing Perl to call her to know what was going on. Which was another reason she didn't contact Eve. Apparently social interactions are "good for her" and all that junk. Which was true, she just didn't like it.

“I-I um... use nice pr-products and I uh… just take really g-good care of it?” Perl squeaked out, literally hiding under her hoodie. This girl was _really intimidating._

“Really? That’s it? Damn, you’re gonna have to let me use whatever jazz you’re using.” Yang leaned back, getting out of Perl’s face. 

Perl, not wanting to upset the… rather aggressive blonde, quickly nodded. “Y-Yeah… um... sure.” Or, rather, that's what she tried to say. Instead it was silence.

“Try not to scare her, Yang.” Ruby looked up from whatever letter she was writing, frowning at how Perl was acting.

“Oops, Sorry blondie.” Yang grinned sheepishly, looking guilty as she apologized. She glanced over at her sister as she stepped away from Perl, giving her some space. “Well then, whatcha got there Rubes?” 

“Just a letter to the gang back at Signal. Telling them how you ditched me and that I have no friends.” Ruby said, clearly a little grumpy. 

“Oh come on, don’t be upset. Mother lions throw their kids off of cliffs. I was just helping out, and you gained three friends because of it!” Yang argued optimistically, trying to be positive. It was a mute point as optimism was often just that, optimism. Realism is where it's at, or at least, that's her opinion on the subject.

Ruby raised an eyebrow with doubt. “Well you dropped me off of a large cliff, cause I can hardly call them friends.” 

She then quickly glanced back to Perl and smiled, “No offense, by the way.”

Perl gave her an understanding smile, “Y-Yeah, um... It’s, uh, f-fine. We just m-met after all.”

She meant it too, she would hardly call Ruby a friend. As she said, they just met. She barely knew the girl. Though that didn’t mean she didn’t hope they would become friends. Only if they wanted to be her friend of course!

Now she made herself feel sick again. Perfect.

Honestly she just wanted the whole nervousness thing to be over, but… as she said earlier. It was far easier said than done.

“Oh cheer up, maybe they’ll become your best friends!” Yang continued to look on the bright side, trying to make things better. Perl thought that an outlook like that would eventually get you killed but… well, she wasn’t just going to say that.

“I doubt that, the annoying girl who was being rude earlier? Yeah, apparently she’s some kinda big shot heiress or something.” Ruby rolled her eyes, collapsing back onto the ground.

“Oh! Um, y-yeah, uh, actually sh-she is. She’s the heiress to the Schnee D-Dust Company…” Perl pointed out, nervously whispering as she glanced behind Ruby. “She’s also, um, right b-behind you...” 

Ruby froze, slowly turning around. She blanked when she saw Weiss standing there, her snow white hair let down and in a white gown. The scarf she had made was elsewhere apparently.

“What are you doing here! Why did you bunk next to me!?” Ruby leapt back, practically hiding behind Yang. She seemed genuinely frightened by Weiss, which was a little amusing. It probably would've been funnier if she wasn’t terrified as well.

“Well I _was_ coming to apologize once again for being rude earlier, but if I’m so annoying I might as well leave.” Weiss told her, glaring down with ice cold blue eyes. 

“Ugh, would you two stop arguing. You’re like cats and dogs.” Another familiar voice interrupted, a book snapping shut. More people, just what she needed… 

_“Blake Belladonna…"_ Perl turned towards Blake with intrigue and fear, curious about her hostility to Weiss. While she knew Blake was a former White Fang member, Weiss wasn’t her father. Someone who was fighting for equality should know that.

“Ugh, You again!? You know I should—“C-Could, um, everyone please c-calm down?” Perl requested softly, she didn’t like interrupting people but she wasn’t sure she could handle the fighting.

Seriously, she had shortness of breath, heart palpitations, sweaty palms, the complete set. She was extremely nervous if the mild nausea didn't make that clear. It didn't help that every little noise felt like someone scratching a chalkboard up against her ears. The chaos was going to drive her mad.

“Perl’s gotta point. Clearly Fate had brought us together, so why don’t we all make up and get along?” Yang cheered loudly, ignoring the annoyed groans of the other tired students. 

“I’m Yang, this is my sister Ruby!” Yang gestured to herself and the girl hidden behind her before pointing a thumb towards Perl. “And this here is Perl.”

“H-hi... there,” Perl greeted weakly, giving a small wave. Just waving and saying hello made her feel ill, it was just stressful… she was starting to feel better at least. Not that she knew why.

“You must be Weiss, right? Gosh, you’re like a real life princess, it’s adorbs.” Yang then turned to Blake, who was nose deep in her book. “And you are…”

“Blake, Blake Belladonna.” She said simply, sighing in annoyance. “If that’s all then I would like to get back to my novel.”

She liked her. Blake was antisocial and she seemed to be smart. Perhaps they could be close friends one day… wait that's not how that works. Introverts don't magically get along, or do they? She wasn't sure...

Yang simply ignored her, smiling brightly. “Great! Now we’re all friends!”

“I-I, um... Don’t think That’s h-how it works…” Perl pointed out, not that anyone noticed. She was far too quiet and meek for anyone to pay attention to her. For some reason even that made her feel bad about herself… 

“Your younger sister? That means… you’re the grade skipper everyone’s been talking about.” Weiss sneered at Ruby, clearly bitter about the topic. 

“What about it?” Ruby retorted, surprisingly confident despite still hiding behind Yang.

Again, it would be amusing if she didn't feel so terrified like she was being swallowed up by a black hole. Her stress was returning alongside the aggression, lovely.

“I just think it’s silly that they would allow a dim witted child into Beacon.” Weiss continued arguing, clearly upset at the idea of Ruby entering Beacon early. 

It kinda made sense to Perl though. Weiss had a hard time getting into Beacon because of her father, then discovering someone got in two years early… well, maybe that was why she was bitter? She was probably upset, maybe even jealous. Then again, what did she know?

“I bet you don’t even have a reason for being a huntress. You’re just some brat who got lucky and is in it for the fame.” Weiss continued.

“Cut it out you two.” Blake looked up from her book in annoyance. Frowning at all the fighting, she clearly wasn’t amused. The sense of maturity and authority she gave off, unfortunately, did nothing to stop them.

While a little intimidating, Blake was pretty cool in Perl’s opinion. She hoped they would get along. She should also pay more attention to the conversation, as she was feeling a bit guilty.

“Actually, I do have a goal. A Dream, really.” Ruby’s gaze hardened, silver eyes sparkling with determination. They were like beacons of hope… "I may only be fifteen. I may be a child. But I don’t care what you call me because I know what I want to be. I want to be a hero, to save everyone. Just like in the storybooks.” 

...

“Aww, Ruby! You’re so awesome!” Yang exclaimed, pulling her into a hug. 

“Hmph, talk is all cheap.” Weiss dismissed Ruby’s speech as childish Dreams. She was definitely bitter about Ruby’s early entry. Which, again, made just a little bit of sense in some skewed messed up way. Or she was being stupid and complete overthinking everything, that was also a possibility.

Blake simply sighed, a little bit tired of all the chaos. “Well just remember, there is no such thing as storybook heroes.” 

“I-I Think it’s sweet. She’s only a y-year uh... younger than me and a-already has, um, huge ambitions.” Perl smiled weakly, not that she didn’t have huge ambitions. Though that was a story for another time. Or preferably, never. Seriously, that was a dream that should never be spoken aloud because it's a stupid and pointless dream! But one she hoped to achieve... 

Okay, sure she was embarrassed by it but she would succeed! Probably! Maybe… Hopefully… 

“Wait, you’re sixteen?” Yang asked, having connected some dots. She was extremely confused, as was everyone else. It made sense, for no one had heard anything about two grade skippers, just Ruby. 

Perl shrunk back slightly, mentally slapping herself for what she had just said. “W-Well, um, uh... I-It’s... kind of a l-long story... b-but um... I’m a W-Ward?” She whispered in a frantic panic.

She mentally slapped herself once again, she was so stupid sometimes. Herself and her big mouth. She looked up at the mixed expressions before her. Sympathy, pity, sorrow, and curiosity. All familiar gazes she'd seen before. All gazes that she hated.

No one spoke, they all just looked away awkwardly. They probably didn't want to step upon a sensitive subject.

Yeah… this was going to be a long night of counting for sure.

* * *

The figure frowned softly, their face hidden by the white cloak that wrapped around them. The cloaked person's frustration became apparent as they traversed the dark corridor, practically stomping as they went. They clenched their fists tightly as thoughts wormed deep into their mind. They were in trouble.

Zero, while beneficial to associate with, was not one you upset. They had made that mistake before. You didn’t mess with a man who could alter your anatomy. A semblance like that was effective for torture. They knew first hand.

The memory of when they first experienced it was burned into their mind. It was the day when they reported the project’s… escape. They were using that term loosely but they supposed it was somewhat accurate.

Of course, they did quickly make up for it with other projects, especially with their latest one, but that memory would never fade. It was worth it though. The goal had been met. That was all that mattered. 

Despite the fact that they knew their fate, the cloaked figure couldn’t help but shiver at the thought of what Zero would have in mind for them. He was a cruel and arrogant boss, but he had reason to be so. They despised the man but were unable to deny his brilliance, but unfortunately it was only matched by his stern attitude. 

Still, those who worked for Zero were only tortured for mistakes. They were pretty sure _she_ could do far worse. The cloaked person didn’t even want to imagine what that would be like.

Still, they had made a careless… mistake, though that probably wasn’t the best term. They had "slipped up," and would be punished dearly for it. They would need to demonstrate the new weapon’s worth if they didn’t want to suffer. Well, they said "New" when it was more accurate to say they were revealing something old. Still, If they didn’t want to lose the resources Zero gave them access to, they would have to impress him.

They needed a test run. The question was just when and where?

* * *

Kat. That was what she went by. She knew that was her name because it was carved into her arm. She was pretty sure it wasn’t her _real_ name but it was the name she gave herself. 

She actually had a hard time remembering a lot of things, especially as of late, but she wasn’t too bothered about that either. She couldn’t even remember what she did before working with the funky number people. She did remember a weird snake and some sparky jazz, but besides that? Nothing.

Kat was simply happy to help, even if she wasn’t sure what she was doing at times. She knew what she was good at and so did other people. She copied them.

It was just what she did.

“This is who you’re supposed to Copy.” The grumpy teen said bitterly. She was pretty sure they called him Vampire, though she wasn't sure why. 

Vampire held up a photograph of an old man and shoved it in her face. He was wearing some fancy suit, he appeared wealthy and grumpy. Like Vampire!

Oh well, it was simple enough.

Kat smiled brightly, nodding as her appearance shifted. Slowly her body began to reshape itself into a carbon copy of the man. The silver scales of her suit rippled and glowed, changing to match the outfit shown in the picture. She couldn’t explain how it worked because she didn’t really understand it either. 

It didn't matter though, now she looked identical to the business man. She hadn’t met him so she couldn’t copy his mannerisms but that didn’t matter too much.

“Got it Grumpy!” She said chipperly, her voice now rugged and gravely. It was just a guess on the man’s voice as, once again, she hadn’t met him.

“Still freaks me out…” Vampire shook his head with a sigh, he was clearly frustrated at something. Though Kat wasn’t sure what that thing was. Maybe he was Hangry.

“Now what?” She asked, tilting her head. She probably didn’t look nearly as cute as she normally did but she didn’t care. She was just having fun!

“Now, Marionette should be disabling the systems or some tech stuff like that.” Vampire shrugged, his ears twitching as he picked up noises. He turned to a child next to him, one with light blue hair.

Kat was pretty sure that was the boy one, but she had a hard time telling them apart. She didn’t care though, she just thought they were cute! 

“Castor, tell Polly that we’re ready.” He said seriously, though his general annoyance didn’t slip by Kat. 

The cutesy child nodded calmly, shutting their eyes and concentrating on something. Kat wasn’t too sure about it but she was pretty sure that the twins had some psychic bond or some freaky magic stuff. Whatever it was, she thought it was much cooler than her power. She just copied people.

Castor opened his eyes with a weak smile, he clearly didn’t like being separated from his other half. “They know.” 

_“Ohhh! He’s just so cute!”_ Kat did a small little happy dance, though she supposed it probably looked weird given that she was an old man. 

Vampire let out a sigh of exasperation while shaking his head in annoyance. He was _definitely_ frustrated with someone or something, though Kat was still clueless about that. After all, she had already forgotten why they came to the big old building. 

Well, she said old but that wasn’t true. It was rather nice looking, quite expensive too. The businessman who owned it must have been quite rich.

The electronic door that they were all waiting in front of clicked open, a distorted mechanical voice echoing from inside the building. **“You have an estimated time of ten minutes, get in, get the target, get out.”**

 _“Is that Marionette? I kinda forgot about her. Again. She seems… funky. Oh well, simple job!”_ Kat shrugged as she waltzed into the building. She had… something to steal. Whatever was in that case.

* * *

Perl frowned softly as she rolled around in her sleeping bag. She was grumpy and exhausted, not to mention terrified, she barely slept at all. Or at least, it felt like she had barely slept at all. Her estimate? Two hours, twenty seven minutes. Making it two O’ five. Damn… she was up early. At least she woke up at a nice round number. 

With an annoyed sigh she sat up slowly, looking around the dark room. People were sleeping, though she did spy the occasional person awake. They probably couldn’t sleep, just like her. Hopefully she wouldn't have to interact with them, the mess around her already bothered her enough. Still… she was oddly calm. Well, she was still nervous and frightened just not as much as she thought she would be.

Perl frowned softly, groaning as she sat up. She was tired, but she knew she wouldn’t fall asleep. She had mild insomnia, it only became really bad when she was stressed. As of right now? She would say she was stressed, she was about to be sent into the Emerald Forest for Initiation! What kind of madman does that!? Ozpin. That's who!

Okay, yeah, maybe she was more than just a little grumpy.

She rolled up her sleeping bag with a pout, grabbing her things with shaky hands. She might as well get ready, there was no real downside to doing so. It wasn’t like she could work or sleep with all these people around her. 

Besides, taking care of her hair took a long time. She needed to get a head start on that. Maybe once she was ready she could head back to her room and get some work done. _"Working on that project I was requested to do might calm me down a little. Hopefully."_

Perl nodded shakily, sighing as she carefully stepped around the many people sleeping. She didn’t want to wake anyone up. Oh gosh that'd be genuinely awful if she woke someone up… 

She needed to get ready. She had a big day ahead of her.

* * *

Getting ready took _ages_ for her. Especially taking care of her hair. She knew she didn’t need to take such good care of it but she liked to. It made it look nice and neat. She also had to make sure to upkeep her hygiene, to get dressed, get a healthy breakfast, do the proper stretches for a day of fighting. It was a lengthy process, but an important one nonetheless. Was she overpreparing? She didn’t think so, she did this stuff every morning after all. It was routine.

Luckily Perl finished getting ready in time to get a little bit of work done, just a few hours worth. Mainly just some research and schematic design, nothing important. She did background checks as well, she was a little surprised to find out that Ruby and Yang were the nieces Qrow always mentioned. She didn’t exactly see the resemblance. Then there was Jaune… he… she… she decided it would be best to leave his stuff alone, she would leave it at that. 

While telling someone about what she discovered was the right thing to do, she wasn’t sure she could do it. It was a scary thought, besides, she wasn’t exactly qualified either. Not only did she owe him, she was fairly certain the teachers already knew about it. There was no way they would fall for such a thing, right?

Wait, she said she was going to forget about it. Yeah, she never even thought about it. Baseless accusations.

On another note, she also worked on the blueprints for another weapon design, a request as usual. 

She would rant about the weapon types and the complicated mechashift capabilities it had but that would take ages. The short story, she didn’t like short stories but she was giving one anyway, was that it was an Uzi that turned into a war hammer.

She wanted to go into more detail, Such as the various Dust types infused into the metal, or the Dust circuits she engraved into it, that when used with the dust infused in the metal it would alter the mass of the hammer, but she was a little preoccupied. All she would say is that Dust Circuits are awesome. 

Now she just had to deal with an awkward locker room situation until it was time to go to the designated launch site where they would… be launched into the emerald forest.

She was anything but excited.

Perl sighed as she entered the locker room, already missing the safety of her large hoodie. Alas her combat gear was, while very nice, not nearly as cozy as her hoodie. 

She kept her head low, refusing to meet anyone’s eye as she walked to her locker. Distantly she heard someone muttering something about sloths, dragons, and not being “Together-Together.” 

She was pretty sure that she saw Ruby and Yang but she wasn’t going to risk an awkward conversation. Yang frightened her just a little bit after all. She did overhear something about drinking milk though, whatever that was about. She would much rather get it all over with. While she didn’t have to participate in initiation, Ozpin was very clear about that, she felt like she needed to. She needed to prove to herself that she could do it. She even planned to silence Eve, so she would be doing it all by herself. 

It was a test. Both literally and figuratively.

As Perl walked by with a shaky sigh, she froze as she spotted two _very_ familiar figures. She was heading to her locker but these figures caught her eye enough that she actually paused. Or rather, she froze in fear. 

Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos. To find both of her pen pals were in the same place, it was a terrifying thought. Oh yeah, she had exchanged a couple letters with Pyrrha as well. Though she knew Weiss, through the letters, much better than Pyrrha.

“So… Pyrrha,” Weiss began eagerly, clearly excited. Though Pyrrha seemed anything but. “What do you think they are going to do about initiation and the teams?”

“I don’t know really, I heard that the teams will be random though.” Pyrrha told her, toying with a long scarlet ponytail. Her jade green eyes glowing with an emotion Perl couldn’t place. 

There was really only one thing that Perl noted about her attire. The armor. Pyrrha wore a lot of armor. It wasn’t full plate but she did have plates on all the joints, a breastplate, as well as gauntlets and grieves. All with a red and gold color scheme.

"Well, I think it'd be lovely if we were on a team together." Weiss smiled, her hands behind her back.

Meanwhile Perl simply stood there, fidgeting nervously with a thin layer of blush dusting her face. Should she introduce herself? If so, as Perl or Charlotte?

...

Ugh! Why do decisions have to be so hard!? 

The blonde girl shook her head nervously and quickly walked away, but she could’ve sworn she met Pyrrha’s eyes for a brief moment. It was a little scary but the curiosity her gaze held didn’t go unnoticed. 

Taking several deep breaths to calm herself down, Perl rounded the next corner in an attempt to rush to her locker. She could still hear their conversation, something about teaming up. She wouldn’t mind being on a team with them. It would only be slightly less terrifying than being on anyone else's team, or would it be more? 

Agh! Things made no sense…

She Definitely wasn’t pouting and she would be angry at anyone who said she was... Okay she probably wouldn’t be upset but her point was made.

Perl brushed the thought aside as she continued towards her locker. It was a stupid thought, the chances of it happening were miniscule. She didn’t even know if she was getting a team or not!

It was one of the many things Ozpin refused to tell her, and she would admit, that frustrated her a little. Of course, she was far too scared to actually do anything about it.

As Perl arrived at her locket she froze in place. There was a stranger standing in front of her locker. What was she supposed to do? She didn’t know them and they looked rather intimidating!

The girl was fairly pretty, despite her androgynous appearance. With silky shoulder length hair that was black on one half and white on the other, sharp amber eyes that stared into your soul, and smooth fair skin that was like porcelain, she was easily considered attractive. 

Her black and white outfit had a militaristic style about it that made her seem professional, not to mention the rifle on her back and the weapons strapped to her waist. The passive face and sharp gaze only reinforced the feeling. She was _extremely_ intimidating.

Shoot. Oh gosh, she was starting to feel a little nauseous again. She hated it… why did she get so sick like this sometimes? Well, she knew the reason but it was stupid! The human body is flawed!

Okay maybe she was a little salty, but what else was she supposed to do? Oh yeah, talk to the girl… oh but she didn’t want to do that! But she was in front of her locker… ugh, why did it have to be so frustrating.

“Umm… M-Miss?” Perl whispered nervously, unsure of what to do about the girl leaning against her locker. 

The girl turned to her quickly and scowled, but she didn’t speak. She simply glared at her with a questioning gaze as she inspected Perl. She then seemed to make some hand gestures causing Perl’s odd eyes to widen in realization. She wasn’t quiet, she was Mute.

Shoot! Oh dammit she embarrassed herself again! Seriously, was she being inconsiderate? Oh she really hoped she wasn't accidentally rude to the girl…

Knowing her she was probably doing something stupid or mean… why does she suck so much?

“Oh… I’m s-s-sorry. I don’t... um, u-understand sign language…” Perl admitted shyly. She was a bit ashamed about it actually. Despite that, she understood what the girl was asking, it was in her eyes. _“What do you want?”_

The Mute rolled her eyes at Perl’s statement, causing her to look away in embarrassment, her cheeks tinged red. She was definitely doing something to embarrass herself. “Y-You’re, um, in f-front of m-my locker.”

She raised an eyebrow and slid over slightly, still glaring at Perl as she typed in her code and opened up the locker. It was a little unnerving to be honest. Okay that was a lie, it was extremely terrifying.

Why was the girl staring? What did she do wrong this time?

She pulled out her weapons nervously, occasionally glancing at the amber eyed girl in genuine terror, well, she hid that emotion. Perl slid her gloves on and connected the piping, holstering her pistols before finally sliding her staff into its grip on her lower back.

The Mute continued observing her with what seemed like a strange mix between curiosity and annoyance. Whatever it was, it intimidated Perl. 

_“I should learn sign language, She is a classmate after all.”_ Perl thought to herself as she shut her locker, the piercing gaze finally leaving her. _“It shouldn't take too long as it’s pretty much just memorization, I can do it in a day or two Maybe. Wait, that wouldn't be weird or creepy would it? Nah, it's not creepy. Hopefully.”_

Perhaps she was over simplifying what it took to learn sign language, but to be fair, Sign Language is very different from a normal language, mainly due to the lack of a written form. And with her brain? It should be relatively easy… and she just jinxed herself.

Perl glanced towards the Mute girl, who looked away in response. However, as she did so something caught Perl’s eye. Feathers. Going down her neck were several feathers split into black and white halves like her hair. 

She definitely wasn’t being weird and observing pointless details. Baseless accusations. Although, by her conclusion, The Mute girl was a bird faunus of sorts.

 _“Interesting, Avian type Faunus are significantly rarer than Mammal types.”_ Perl tilted her head, observing her. However, she froze with a small Yelp when the girl whirled back around and silently snarled at her.

“S-Sorry!” Perl leaped back, looking away with embarrassment. She should’ve known better than to stare at a Faunus’ traits. It was rude and insensitive but she couldn’t help herself. It was curiosity… 

The Mute girl pulled out a notebook and seemed to be writing something when the intercom interrupted her. Glynda Goodwitch’s voice echoed through the locker room. “Would everyone please head for their designated sites? Initiation will begin in fifteen minutes.” 

Everyone’s scroll simultaneously pinged, a location popped up in the corner of her glasses. Beacon Cliff. Lovely. She just had to be launched off of the highest cliff surrounding the Emerald forest. 

She noticed the Mute girl leave, not even giving her some form of goodbye. She thought it was a little rude but she wasn’t going to judge. The girl probably had her reasons for being antisocial.

Or at least that’s what she told herself.

Perl jumped in surprise as Jaune slammed into the wall not too far away from her, held in place by a familiar spear. “Oh come on!” He yelled in annoyance.

“Sorry!” A girl’s voice called out, the spear being pulled back. She assumed that was Pyrrha, mainly because it was her spear that sent Jaune flying.

Perl approaches the scraggly blonde nervously, “Are y-you alright?” 

“Yeah… I just don’t get it. I thought Girls liked confidence…” Jaune sighed sadly as he sat up from the ground. 

“Yeah, flirting with Ice Queen Probably wasn’t the smartest idea.” A familiar voice spoke from behind her, scaring Perl.

“Eep!” Perl whirled around, glaring at Yang. “D-Don’t scare me l-like that!”

“Sorry Blondie.” Yang chuckled, looking away guiltily for a brief moment. She rubbed her neck sheepishly as she waved an arm and began walking away. “C’mon, we have initiation.” 

“Yeah!” Ruby cheered, zipping up to them in a flurry of rose petals. 

Perl jumped once again, pouting at Ruby. While she wasn’t very intimidating, she still glared at the hooded girl. _“Why do people keep on scaring me!”_

Ruby simply frowned, tilting her head in confusion. “What? I’m just excited.” 

“It’s F-Fine…” Perl said weakly, still pouting. She didn’t like being scared, though she didn’t think anyone did. Except the mentally unstable people who watched horror movies.

Perl followed them out of the locker room, albeit nervously. It was time for initiation, and she was anything but ready for it.

* * *

Beacon cliff. An elevated peak with beautiful green grass and flowers everywhere. It oversaw an incredible sea of green known as the Emerald Forest. It was a beautiful sight to behold.

Or at least, it was for some of them. Perl could appreciate the view… if she didn’t know that she was about to be launched off of the cliff. 

Professor Glynda Goodwitch paces back in front of them, her emerald eyes holding a stern gaze. “Today you shall all be participating in initiation. It will be simple and in the process teams will be formed.”

People began to mutter and whisper, but Perl was frozen in place. She was actually shaking a little, out of fear of course. Mainly because Goodwitch was one of the more intimidating teachers, and unfortunately was the one assigned to her launch site. Of course, she knew Miss Goodwitch didn't mean to scare her, and at times she even was nice to be around, but other times she was really scary.

“According to our _esteemed_ headmaster, the first Person you make eye contact with will be your partner.” Goodwitch said with distaste, it was evident that, like some of the students, she wasn’t pleased with the headmaster’s way of going about things. "You will make your way through the forest, to the Ruins in the north. Upon arrival, you and your partner should collect a relic."

Perl tapped her foot anxiously, beads of sweat dripping down her forehead. She was terrified.

"The forest is filled with Grimm and we, the teachers, shall not intervene. You must make your way through on your own." She continued.

Perl, along with a few others, were clearly intimidated. This was their idea of initiation? What if someone died?

“Now, are there any questions?” Goodwitch said sharply, in a tone that made it clear that no one was to raise their hands. Despite that, Jaune raised his hand anyway. “No? Good.”

Goodwitch ignored him entirely. Perl felt a little bad for him, but she was much more worried about herself. 

Her anxiety only worsened as the people next to her began getting sent flying. It was clear that she wasn’t the only one prepared for this as cries of confusion could be heard.

Her palms grew sweaty as her turn approached, she looked for any way out but she knew she wouldn’t find one. She had to do this.

The person next to her was launched. _“Never mind! I do not need to do this! I will definitely die!”_

Her heart rate quickened as she began to hyperventilate, she was panicking. She was about to move when she felt her platform lurch. _“This is not good! This is anything but good!”_

As her feet left the ground, she flinched, screaming as she felt herself soar in the air. She was having a _really_ bad day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: That was another chapter of Mind & Soul! As you can see, many things have changed and I have big plans. There was misdirection! World building! Even more OCs!
> 
> Now on a serious note, Perl in the Auditorium. This is one of the moments that I wanted to use to demonstrate just how serious her fears are, and I felt guilty even making Perl go through that. Jaune was the perfect person to help her out. In the show, he demonstrated that despite how dorky and foolish he can be, he is empathetic and kind. He wouldn't be anywhere else at the moment so he could help her out, that's all there is to it. 
> 
> There will, unfortunately, be other moments like this where Perl freaks out. However, she will grow and hopefully overcome her fears.
> 
> Now, onto a lighter note. So yeah, as you can see, I’m hyped. I also really like Kat, she’s a little nutty if you know what I mean. 
> 
> I wonder if anyone has a guess about the Little Mute Faunus that Perl met. I have some big plans for them. Though romance between them is unlikely, it's not impossible.
> 
> Next note, Perl's stutter. I realized I was overdoing it and I did some research into stuttering so hopefully that's more bearable. 
> 
> Finally, teams. Perl will have her own team. Why haven't the other characters been introduced yet? Because what are the chances that out of all the students, Perl would meet her team so soon? You will all see them soon though, I'm excited for it.
> 
> I won’t say anything more because I don’t want to spoil the story. Just leave a review and tell me everything! Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll try to answer as best as I can.
> 
> Now to the Guest reviewer who suggested Elemancy. Are you referring to Final Fantasy or did you mean controlling the elements? Both are interesting prospects but I'm unsure of how to link that to her personality. Well, I can kinda see FF Elemancy but I'm thinking how that would work in Remnant.
> 
> Another reviewer, ImprisonedHuman (<-you need help with that imprisonment?) suggested a sort of virtual interface of sorts(?) as a semblance which is another interesting concept. She would be able to scan for weaknesses and stuff like that. There are several ideas similar to this that I've thought of as well.
> 
> Finally, to Don’tMindMe, your PMs were turned off so I couldn't reply. Now I'm absolutely ecstatic to have Perl compared to Futaba, because she's awesome. I'm kinda surprised I didn't notice the similarities until now. I'd also like to thank you for reviewing. Team Coffee will be active in this story at least somewhat, they won't be the most active in the next few chapters because of getting the school year set up and initiation but after that I'll try to fit them in a bit more.
> 
> Now, I likely won't be taking in anymore semblance suggestions because with a bit of help I'm fairly certain I know what her semblance will be. Of course, I'm an indecisive weasel so who knows?
> 
> Whew! Reviews are done, and I'm tired. So that's all for now folks! 
> 
> See ya later, Void Out!


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